Monster
by Sandilynn Petersen
Summary: It's that time of year and one of the team members is especially spooked. Is there good reason for his fear?
1. Chapter 1

Monster

Disclaimer: I do not own The A-Team movie or television series or any of the delightful characters found on The A-Team.

Chapter 1

Murdock peered over his shoulder before opening the rear passenger door of the van.

"Am I glad you guys came by t' pick me up!" he said, sounding more relieved than happy.

He gave the darkened hospital grounds a scrutinizing look, scanning the entire area, hesitating, tense. He balled up his hands into fists.

"I told you we'd be here to get you. Remember? You called yesterday and said you wanted to help . . . " Face gave up saying anything more. It was obvious his friend wasn't listening. Climbing out to let Murdock get in, he waited but the pilot didn't move.

"Get in, fool! I ain't gonna wait all night for you! Miss Alicia's waitin' for us ta help her put up Halloween stuff at the center. It's gotta be up before tomorrow." B. A. growled from the driver's seat, shooting a frustrated glare his way.

Touching his friend lightly on the shoulder, Face was surprised when Murdock flinched under his hand.

"Whoa! Why so jumpy, buddy?" he asked with genuine concern as the pilot finally scrambled into the van.

"Jus' . . . jus' th' night, I guess . . . think we're in for a lightnin' storm . . . jus' th' right conditions for . . . for . . . " Murdock sighed heavily, seeing all three sets of eyes worriedly analyzing his nervousness.

"For what, Captain?" Hannibal settled in his seat, still looking back at the other man.

"Nothin' . . . nothin', I guess . . . didn' mean anythin' . . . " He sighed again. Then, in a sudden burst of agonized energy, he blurted, "Did you guys ever think ya saw someone that looked like someone ya never wanted t' meet 'n' that someone was someone ya saw all th' time on th' TV when you were growin' up 'n' ya always were tol' that person was jus' an actor in makeup but somehow ya knew . . . ya jus' _knew_ . . . it was poss'ble that person th' person was playin' _had_ t' exist somewhere . . . " He paused to catch his breath and steal a glance at Hannibal.

The Colonel was frowning at a freshly lit cigar. "Go on."

Murdock noticed B. A.'s scowl reflected in the rearview mirror and fidgeted under the annoyed glare.

"Man, you talkin' nonsense again!" he grumbled.

For several seconds no one spoke as the black man gave Murdock one more angry look and started the engine. He maneuvered the van into the evening traffic, light at this time of night.

The con man finally spoke, breaking the awkward silence. "Let me get this straight. You thought you saw someone that looks like a character from the movies you were scared of when you were a kid." Face said it slowly as if trying to get the words exactly right.

The pilot nodded furiously, gulping as he did.

Hannibal, still looking at his cigar, asked, "Is this person one of the patients or a staff member?" Murdock saw the tiny twitch of amusement in the corner of the Colonel's mouth as he said it.

 _He doesn' think I'm serious,_ the pilot thought.

"New orderly. Guess I could o' been wrong. I mean . . . he jus' looks like . . . I don' know . . . " Murdock let his voice fade and set to picking at his thumb nail, avoiding the concerned look passed between Face and their leader.

"You just gettin' all worked up 'cause it's almost Halloween. Las' year ya thought vampires was drainin' your blood at night . . . an' the year before . . . " B. A. stopped when Hannibal shook his head slightly.

"Who do you think this new orderly looks like?" Face smiled at his friend.

For a moment the pilot analyzed the expressions on each of his team mates' faces. None of them looked like they thought his fear was anything more than another delusion that they had to indulge.

Finally, Murdock shook his head and looked down at the floor. "I'm jus' a li'l jittery this time o' year . . . okay? Don' mean anythin' . . . th' guy ain' done anythin' for me t' think he's who I thought he was . . . let's jus' drop it . . . okay?"

 _If he is who I think he is, I gotta get more proof. 'N' that won' be easy._

Forcing himself to calm down, he gave his team mates a halfhearted smile. "So what's Miss Alicia got in min' for dec'rations?" He was relieved when the conversation turned to that subject. He would deal with the new orderly himself.


	2. Chapter 2

Monster

Disclaimer: I do not own The A-Team movie or television series or any of the delightful characters found on The A-Team.

Chapter 2

One week later

oooooo

Murdock stood at the window of his room staring out at the dimly lit hospital grounds. The sun had set about fifteen minutes ago and the lights were not yet shining at their full power. He saw ominous shadows among the trees and shivered.

"Won' be long now, Billy," he whispered to the air beside him. Something about the night didn't seem right to him. He didn't know what it was that made him feel that way.

 _The guys're comin' in 'bout an hour 'n' then everythin'll be alright. Right?_

Someone down the hall screamed. Not that the sound was something Murdock wasn't used to hearing on this ward but he shuddered just the same. He wondered what kind of terror the patient imagined to make him scream like that.

 _Maybe it's better I don' know._

Sounds like that seemed to be contagious. The cries let out by a single patient could bring out an entire chorus of yelps, whimpers and screams from others on this floor. But this time there was uncanny silence. No one responded and in fact the man who screamed didn't make another sound.

Which was strange since a scream like that usually ended with unintelligible babbling or uncontrollable sobbing or other sounds of desperation.

It was just about time for the orderlies to run their check to make sure the residents took their medications and got ready for bed.

And Murdock had a pretty good idea who was assigned to the set of rooms in this section. He knew pretending to be asleep wouldn't fool 'Frankie' as he liked to call the new orderly behind his back. He had a feeling that the orderly, whose real name was Vic, wouldn't appreciate the nickname very much.

He didn't want to be lying down either when Frankie unlocked the door and came in. The orderly overshadowed the pilot with his height. Not that his size was the scary part about the new orderly. Frankie's bad attitude alone filled the room with its menace.

Murdock felt goosebumps rise on his arms as he turned to face the door. He heard the squeak of someone's rubber-soled shoes on the tile floor outside.

 _He's comin' . . . th' monster's comin' . . ._

Frankie usually didn't knock and announce himself unless someone was close by who could get him in trouble. Then he was the very model of hospital rules and policy.

He heard the key in the door lock and warily watched the orderly as he came in, a small disposable cup in his hand.

"Time for your bedtime pills, Murdock," he growled. Not Captain or Mister. Just Murdock.

And there was that rising panic again, just like the night last week when the guys came to get him.

He backed toward the window, keeping his eyes on the advancing orderly.

"I can get t' sleep without those, ya know . . . " he protested, knowing that it was futile. Every time Frankie dispensed the night time medications, he made sure the patients took them. His methods were questionable but one hundred percent effective. Murdock put a hand to his throat, remembering the last time he hesitated to swallow the offered pills.

"Doctor's orders. You know that. They'll keep the bad dreams from waking you up."

That wasn't entirely true and Murdock knew it. The bad dreams still happened. If anything, the pills imprisoned him in his nightmares and sometimes made them worse.

"Please? Can't we jus' once try t' see if I can get through th' night without 'em?" He had reached the window and could go no farther unless he pushed his way out and over the windowsill to the ground two stories below. He glanced behind him and swallowed hard. It was a difficult decision.

 _Do I try 'n' break through th' window 'n' hope I land without breakin' anythin'? 'R do I let the monster feed me those pills?_

He pressed up against the mesh and glass of the window. In the next moment the decision was taken entirely out of his hands.

"This is for your own good," Frankie snarled as he grabbed the pilot around his elbow and forced him to the floor beside the bed. No one could see them there. He felt his elbows being pinned down by the monster's knees and knew he was in for trouble.

Murdock saw the fist coming, turned his head just in time to avoid it making contact with his nose.

 _Frankie's in a real bad mood t'night,_ he thought as he let the black dots dance in his vision. Reluctantly he opened his mouth and dry-swallowed the medication.

Some muttered instructions and he was allowed to stagger to his feet and lie down on his bed. The monster left the room, leaving Murdock to a few anxious moments before the sedatives took hold and put him into a deep sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

Monster

Disclaimer: I do not own The A-Team movie or television series or any of the delightful characters found on The A-Team.

Chapter 3

Two days later

oooooo

Amy Allen checked in at the nurses' station, glancing around as she did. Everything seemed as normal as it had the day she had gone to the VA hospital to enlist the A-team's help and met Murdock for the first time.

 _Well, at least as normal as this place ever gets,_ she thought. Not far from her, a patient in a wheelchair stared at the glass behind which the fire extinguisher sat as if he were watching a TV screen.

An orderly passed the desk and smiled at her. She involuntarily shivered. The smile didn't seem very genuine . . .

 _No, actually he smiles like he just murdered someone in cold blood and got away with it. But the guy has to be at least six foot six. Maybe that's why he seems a little scary._

"Mister Murdock?" the blonde nurse said, giving the reporter a small frown. "I'm not sure he wants visitors today. He had two very bad nights. The night before last he injured himself."

Amy's mind swirled with the information. _So is that why he didn't sneak out of the hospital to meet the guys that night? How bad is he hurt?_

"His doctor said it would be okay for me to sit with him for a few minutes and try to cheer him up." Amy gave the nurse her most sympathetic expression, wondering how, and maybe why, Murdock hurt himself.

 _Hannibal said he was acting paranoid about one of the staff members._

"If you can. After last night, he isn't very happy." The nurse hesitated, tapping her pen against the surface of the desk. Finally she smiled and agreed. "I guess anything that will make him feel better. He's usually not like this."

Even though Amy could have walked down the hall and straight to the pilot's room, she allowed the nurse to lead the way.

"Mister Murdock?" She knocked and gave Amy a worried glance when he didn't answer. She knocked harder. "Mister Murdock? You have a visitor. A Miss . . . ?"

"It's Amy Allen. Can I talk to you?" The reporter didn't bother to answer the nurse's question. She wasn't sure what they would find when the woman unlocked the door. An uneasy feeling gripped her but she knew she had to wait patiently for Murdock's answer.

After a few more seconds the nurse tried again. "Mister Murdock? Please answer." She peeked in the observation window. Amy saw her professional smile fade as she became more concerned. "I don't see him," she whispered.

She knocked again. "If you don't want visitors at all . . . " She listened closely for an answer. Amy did, too.

"Yeah, okay, send 'er in." The voice was muffled and quiet, not at all like the carefree veteran pilot the reporter had come to know.

As she unlocked the door, the nurse murmured to Amy, "I'm going to send an orderly to stand outside the door. If Mister Murdock becomes violent or agitated, just yell and the orderly will be right there."

 _Violent or agitated? Murdock?_

The reporter slipped in, thankful she wouldn't have to let the guys know she had failed in the mission they had asked her to do. She knew they would have come themselves but the military police had been snooping around the area again and it wouldn't have been safe for them.

"Murdock?"

His bed showed the struggle he had during the night. A blanket and sheet were tangled together and lay mostly on the floor. The fitted sheet had separated from one corner of the mattress. The pillow was nowhere to be seen.

She walked to the middle of the room. There were only so many places a person could be and the most obvious was vacant.

"Hann'bal sent you, didn' he." The hoarse voice came from behind her. Swinging around to face him, she wasn't ready for what she saw.

Hurrying to his side, she knelt down beside him and took his hand. For a second, she couldn't find the words to say. Then, finally, she gasped, "What happened?"


	4. Chapter 4

Monster

Disclaimer: I do not own The A-Team movie or television series or any of the delightful characters found on The A-Team.

Chapter 4

Later that day

oooooo

Amy rapped at the apartment door and waited. She knew someone was peeking out at her through the peephole and looking beyond her to see if she had been forced to divulge the team's location.

It was a precaution she had come to expect from them.

She felt emotionally drained after her visit with Murdock. When the door opened, she stumbled past Face to collapse on the couch beside Hannibal.

"Well? What did you find out?" the conman asked after shutting the door. He ran his eyes over her, a frown appearing almost immediately. "Is he alright?"

 _Is he alright? No . . . he isn't . . . but how do I tell them that when Murdock insists it's nothing?_

B. A. looked up from watching the TV. She knew he was just pretending to watch since the ad he was so engrossed in was for a new flying school that had opened in the last month in Torrance.

"Fool's never alright," he muttered but Amy noticed his tone hinted he was worried for his friend.

She didn't know how to begin telling them what she saw.

Hannibal motioned with his head toward the kitchen. "Get her a cup of coffee, Face." To the reporter, he added, "Take your time."

She waited until the coffee mug was in her hands. Taking a couple of sips from it gave her a little more energy and allowed her time to frame her words.

None of them spoke. They waited for her and for that, she was grateful.

When she finally spoke, she addressed Hannibal. She knew if she looked at Face, his concern for his best friend would make her release all of the pent-up tears she didn't shed while with the pilot.

"I found him sitting curled up under his bathroom sink. He didn't move from there the entire time I was with him. The nurse said he had a couple of bad nights." She saw the look that passed among them and knew they understood exactly how bad those two nights might have been.

"And that's why he didn't meet with us," Hannibal murmured.

"Yes. He said he fell asleep and didn't wake up until morning. But it's not just that. He wasn't himself . . . " She thought about the way he looked when she knelt beside him and added to her statement. "He had a black eye. It was swollen shut. He claimed he got out of bed during the night, tripped on his shoelaces and hit the corner of the sink on his way to the floor."

Face dropped into an armchair, intent on what she said. His hands gripped the armrests tightly. B. A. scowled his feelings about the information.

Hannibal said what she assumed all three of them wanted to ask. "But you don't believe him?"

Too close to tears, she shook her head instead of vocalizing her answer.

"What else?" Hannibal asked quietly.

"He took hold of my hand and rested his head on my shoulder. I thought he was just being sweet but . . . he fell asleep and stayed that way until the orderly came in with his meds." Pausing, she shivered a little. "That orderly . . . there's something not right about him. And when he woke Murdock up to have him take the pills, his reaction to that man's voice . . . " She bit her lower lip, remembering.

"Do you think he's the one who gave Murdock that black eye?" Face asked her gently.

"Murdock refuses to tell me anything except he tripped and fell. But the way he looked at that orderly . . . yeah, I think it was him." Amy glanced at each of the men in turn and saw the same anger and determination in their expresssions.

"I think we'd better pay this orderly a visit, Hannibal," B. A. growled, clenching his fists.

Hannibal slowly nodded, thinking as he did. Then, placing a gloved hand on Amy's shoulder, he asked, "Do you think you can identify him if you saw him again?"

"No problem with that. He's really tall and has some rather distinctive features," she responded with a shudder.

"Then here's what we'll do . . . " He leaned forward as he outlined his plan.


	5. Chapter 5

Monster

Disclaimer: I do not own The A-Team movie or television series or any of the delightful characters found on The A-Team.

Chapter 5

Two days later

oooooo

Amy watched the hospital from where she sat in her car in the parking lot nearest the employee exit doors. Two days earlier, Hannibal had sent her there to see if she could find out when the creepy orderly would next be on duty.

She didn't like breaking the law . . . she really didn't . . . but it was Murdock's life and sanity at stake. Pulling the fire alarm when no one was looking and then ducking into a utility closet until she heard no more footsteps in the hallway and the psych ward was vacated was easy. It wasn't so easy to find the information Hannibal wanted.

That is, until she found at the abandoned nurses' desk the schedule of personnel who had been on duty when she last visited and which section they had been assigned to. She found the orderly's name to be oddly appropriate for the menace he presented. Victor Stein.

He was supposed to be on duty until seven this night. She had no reason to believe he wouldn't be there.

 _Probably terrorizing all the patients._

"Amy?" Face's voice brought the walkie talkie in the seat beside her to life.

The suddenness of the transmission startled her and she fumbled for the device. "Amy here."

"We're in position. Have you seen him yet?"

She frowned at her watch. "No, but he should . . . " Two men left the building, one monstrously taller than the other. They seemed to be engaged in some friendly banter.

"There he is," she breathed, not taking her eyes off him. She felt the hairs on her arms rise when she noted the way Stein plodded toward his black station wagon. He punched the other man in the arm in a friendly parting gesture and they separated. Once at his truck, the shorter of the two rubbed his arm, glancing at his coworker, and got in the driver's seat.

The giant orderly folded himself into his car and started the engine. Amy turned the key in the ignition of her vehicle at the same time.

"Now remember, Miss Allen. You follow him for a short distance until you see us come up behind you. Don't follow him all the way home. Go back to the hospital and ask to see Murdock. Make up some story but get him alone and make sure he's alright." That was Hannibal and, even without seeing his face, Amy knew the orderly was about to meet the A-team in a way he would not soon forget.

 _I just hope we don't make it worse for Murdock._

The station wagon left the parking lot with the truck following. Amy let both vehicles get a quarter of a block away before turning out onto the street.

"Here we go, guys. He's driving a black station wagon with wood trim. He turned right on Dowlen Drive . . . now left on Bonsall Avenue . . . headed toward Wilshire . . . "

Gripping the steering wheel in one hand and the walkie talkie in the other, she guided her car along the streets and exhaled a sigh of relief when she saw the van loom up behind her.

"We got it from here. Now go check on Murdock and report back. We'll have a friendly talk with this guy." Hannibal's voice hardened as he said the last part.

"But, Hannibal . . . "

"Go, Miss Allen. _We'll handle it from here."_

She wanted to follow them, to make sure they didn't kill the orderly, but her orders were clear. Murdock's welfare was equally important.

She turned at the next block and made her way back to the hospital, inventing her story as she drove.


	6. Chapter 6

Monster

Disclaimer: I do not own The A-Team movie or television series or any of the delightful characters found on The A-Team.

Chapter 6

"Captain Murdock's younger brother is seriously ill and I was asked to tell him." Amy rehearsed the line once again and watched the number for the second floor light up over the elevator door. She composed her expression as much as she could and, when the door swooshed open, strode purposefully toward the nurses' desk.

 _Hope this works._

The nurse looked up from a chart she was reading when Amy stopped in front of her.

The reporter forced the words out and wondered if she looked as unsure as she felt. "Captain Murdock's younger brother is seriously ill and I was asked to tell him. I may need to check him out of here for a day or two so he can be at the bedside."

Paling a little, the nurse glanced down at the chart in front of her and back up at Amy. "Mister Murdock? I didn't know he had any living family members."

The reporter bit her lower lip and blurted, "They had a falling out before the war. You wouldn't have known."

The nurse frowned up at her. "I . . . I don't know if he can receive a visitor right now let alone leave the hospital. He . . . "

Amy's heart sank. _What's that monster done to him now?_ "I have to see him. It's serious," she insisted.

The nurse shook her head in sympathy. "One of our orderlies said Mister Murdock waited for him in his room and attacked him when he entered to give him his meds." She pursed her lips as if she didn't quite believe the story herself. "The orderly had to use some force to get him to settle down and dislocated the patient's shoulder in the process. I'm afraid Mister Murdock might not be able to hear you. He had to be heavily sedated so the doctor could treat his injuries."

Amy gasped in horror and glanced down the hall at the familiar door. She didn't know what to say.

For a few seconds the nurse scrutinized her shocked expression and then rose to her feet. "Look. I need to check on him right now anyway. Why don't you come with me and you can sit with him for a few minutes." She lightly touched Amy's shoulder in sympathy. "I wouldn't give him the message until he feels a little better tomorrow but maybe your presence will help him."

Amy waited impatiently for the nurse to finish her brief examination before drawing up a folding chair close to Murdock's bedside.

The pilot looked so haggard she almost decided to let him sleep for a while. Then he half-opened his good eye, the one not bruised and swollen shut. He tried to focus on her and gave up, staring instead into space.

"Amy . . . he . . . he a'most got me . . . a'most . . . " he slurred, reaching out and groping for her hand.

She grasped his hand in hers, squeezing it gently and hoping her touch would strengthen and comfort him.

"Who? Who almost got you?" She had to be sure.

"Th' monster . . . Frankie . . . Vic . . . he . . . " he swallowed and shook his head slightly. "Meds make . . . me dry . . . "

Understanding, she took the plastic water glass from his bedside stand and lightly touched his lips with the straw.

Waiting for him to take a few sips, she began to see the connection between the word monster and the names Vic and Frankie. Remembering the lumbering appearance of the orderly, it was easy to comprehend why Murdock made the association between the names and the movie monster.

Releasing the straw finally, he muttered, "He a'most got me . . . wanted t' take me down t' . . . th' shock therapy room . . . had th' keys . . . " A faint smile passed over his lips. " . . . but I didn' let 'im . . . got 'im good . . . in th' eye . . . now we're a'most . . . even . . . "

"But how could he do that without anyone seeing?" Amy felt her insides churn at the thought.

"Forged orders . . . 'n' after hours . . . nurse wouldn' question . . . orders . . . " He groaned softly. "So he tried t' force me . . . "

"But why has he singled you out?"

"Not jus' me . . . th' other guys here . . . too . . . I hear 'em . . . screamin' . . . cryin' . . . " He sniffed and let his eyelid slide shut. "Had t' do it . . . for them . . . "

"But why, Murdock? Wouldn't he get caught before . . . " She understood his motivation to sacrifice himself for the sake of others. He'd done that when the guys were in trouble on missions. He'd likely done it in Vietnam and in the POW camp, too.

He interrupted her thoughts. "I took it . . . all his crap . . . 'cause th' others . . . can't fight 'im . . . I _can_ . . . 'cause I know who . . . he is . . . "

He stopped talking then and seemed to fall asleep. She watched him for a few more moments, lost in thought.

Then, attempting not to wake him, she removed her hand from his and caressed it softly.

"I'll be back tomorrow to get you out of here for a few days. I promise," she whispered close to his ear.

As she rose and turned to leave, he murmured, "That'd . . . be nice . . . thanks, Amy." Then he drifted off to sleep.


	7. Chapter 7

Monster

Disclaimer: I do not own The A-Team movie or television series or any of the delightful characters found on The A-Team.

Chapter 7

The nurse examined the chart in front of her at her desk and frowned.

Seeing Rick the night orderly, she motioned for him to come closer.

"What's up, Sharon?" He leaned with his elbows on the counter, smiling down at the pretty brunette.

"Have you checked on Mister Murdock since you clocked in?"

He glanced down the hallway at the pilot's door. His smile had faded when she mentioned the patient's name. "No. But I heard he gave Vic a black eye. That ain't like him. Wonder why he snapped like that?" The orderly shook his head. "I saw Vic's eye. He's pretty mad. He swears he's gonna watch Murdock a little more carefully from now on."

"His chart says he's to be kept sedated tonight. I suppose they want him to be well-rested for his shock therapy session. I guess they'll be doing that in the morning." She paused, her frown deepening. "These orders don't show a scheduled time. I wonder . . . Doctor Richter doesn't usually order ECT for his patients. Not like Doctor Graham."

"And Mister Murdock hasn't been given ECT for a long time. At least I haven't had to bring him down to ECT for better than a year." The orderly shrugged. "But if the doctor ordered it . . . why, what's wrong?"

"Something just doesn't seem right about it, that's all. His chart doesn't show any recent violent behaviors. This episode with Vic was the first since last year around this time." Nurse Sharon continued to read through the pilot's chart.

"Well, this time of year brings out a bit of the crazy in a lot of people. And where else would ya expect to find it than on a psych ward? Do you want me to look in on him to make sure he's asleep?" Rick pushed himself away from the desk.

The night nurse nodded slightly, still lost in thought. "Wonder why Doctor Richter wants to try ECT on Mister Murdock? Of all our patients, I would think he was the last one the doctor thought would need it."

"Don't know. It ain't my job to question why. I'll let you know if he's looking like he's coming out of sedation." With that, Rick walked down the hall to Murdock's room and peeked in through the window before entering, leaving Nurse Sharon still perplexed over Richter's choice of treatment for his least combative patient.

oooooo

The three A-team members remained silent throughout the half hour drive except for an occasional growl from B. A. when another vehicle cut in front of him on the freeway.

The orderly slowed in front of a residence on Mammoth Avenue. Slowly the garage door opened, the interior light turning on, and he drove his station wagon in. Just as slowly, the garage door closed behind him but not before Hannibal caught a glimpse of Stein unfolding himself from the driver's seat and standing up.

"So what now, Colonel?" Face leaned forward to peer at the single level house and garage.

Before he could speak, the walkie talkie crackled to life. "Amy here."

"Yes, Miss Allen?" Hannibal answered, his gaze calmly scrutinizing the possible entry points to the house.

"I just left the VA hospital." She hesitated.

"Let me talk to Murdock," the Colonel said.

"I can't." She took a deep breath, one they all heard. "He isn't here with me."

"She didn't get him _out of there_?" When Amy didn't answer immediately, the con man surged forward and tried to take the walkie talkie from the Colonel's hand. "Why didn't you get Murdock _out_ of there?"

Amy's voice quavered as she spoke. "I couldn't. He was in no condition . . . "

Hannibal waved Face away and asked the question for all of them. " _What did Stein do to Murdock?_ "

The reporter regained her composure and her next words reflected her anger. "It isn't just Murdock Stein's attacking. And Murdock has this idea he has to try to protect all the others by being Stein's favorite punching bag."

"How bad is it?" Face demanded, staring at the walkie talkie.

Amy sighed. "He's been treated for a dislocated shoulder. When I left him, he had been given some pretty heavy sedatives."

B. A. glared toward the orderly's house and released the steering wheel. His hand clenching the door handle, he was about to get out of the van when Hannibal stopped him. "We have to have a plan."

"I got a plan. My plan's ta give 'im a taste of his own medicine," the Sergeant growled, refusing to look at either Hannibal or Face.

"We will. But first . . . " Hannibal smiled coldly. " . . . we'll give him an opportunity to buy some health insurance. Maybe we won't need to give him his medicine at all if we do this right."

"How are you going to convince him to leave Murdock and the others alone?" Amy asked, her voice hinting she wasn't sure she would approve of the plan.

"How fast can you get to 1900 Mammoth Avenue?" The Colonel smiled again and gazed with satisfaction at the orderly's house.

"I'll see what I can do. Amy out." The walkie talkie went dead after that, leaving the three men in silence.

"Still like my plan better," B. A. grumbled but he released the door handle and agreed to wait for the reporter.


	8. Chapter 8

Monster

Disclaimer: I do not own The A-Team movie or television series or any of the delightful characters found on The A-Team.

Chapter 8

Amy eased her car in behind the van and turned off the engine. She sighed as she walked over to the front passenger's side window.

"Get in, Miss Allen." Hannibal motioned with a head tilt to the back seat where Face sat.

"Okay, Hannibal. Now she's here. What's yer plan?" B. A. grumbled as Amy got in and sat down.

"Like I said before. We're going to offer Stein some health insurance. Face, do you have some papers ready that look like insurance papers?" The Colonel had an amused expression that made the man in the van's driver's seat groan.

"He's on the jazz," B. A. muttered, keeping his eyes on the house and kneading the steering wheel with his clenched hands.

"And a briefcase," the Lieutenant answered, smiling and picking up on the plan. "And these." He slipped on a pair of large-framed glasses, the ones Murdock wore in Las Vegas.

"Good. _Now_ you look the part." Hannibal nodded in satisfaction.

"And what will _we_ be doing while Face is in there trying to sell health insurance?" Amy asked, shaking her head as the con man strode toward the front door of the house with a determined expression.

" _B. A. and I_ will be coming in the back way. _You_ will wait outside until we call you in. You have to identify the guy and threaten to expose him in a tell-all article about abuse in the VA mental health system."

"That simple, huh?" Amy answered with doubt evident in her tone.

"It ain't ever simple when it comes ta Hannibal's plans," B. A. responded as he drove around the block to the alley.

oooooo

Face rang the doorbell and fidgeted with his tie in a mock show of readying himself to sell insurance.

 _Just in case this guy is watching from a window to see who's at his door. You never know._

The door opened. The con man found himself gazing at the square chin of a man about seven inches taller than him. Speechless, he quickly tipped his head up to look into the sunken stare of their target.

He half-expected the man to say _"You rang?"_ in a voice like that of Lurch on The Addams Family television show.

Gulping, he noted Stein's angular head and the visible jagged scar across one cheek. The man's black hair had short bangs in front and was slicked down all around. His skin seemed too pale to be healthy. Too pale, that was, except for the darkening skin around the man's eye where the pilot had hit him. Face silently applauded his friend for getting in at least one good blow.

 _Almost looks like Frankenstein's monster . . . wait a minute . . . Stein? . . . Victor? . . . no wonder Murdock thinks this guy is a monster. He must think this_ is _Frankenstein's monster. Pretty close resemblance anyway._

The man began to scowl as the seconds passed. "You wanted something?" he growled in a threatening bass voice.

 _At least the man speaks English and doesn't just grunt. But it wouldn't surprise me if he did . . ._

Putting on his most dazzling smile for the orderly, Face lifted his briefcase in answer. "Hello. My name is Melvin Tuttle. What would you say if I said I had a health insurance policy that guarantees you would never pay exorbitant prices for any hospitalization or other medical expenses for life?" He wasn't surprised when the man began to shut the door on him.

"Mister Stein?" Quickly he placed one foot in the gap to block it from closing. The orderly's growl deepened as he reopened the door a few inches to rake Face with a fiery look. "I can't go back to the home office without some kind of indication I met with you and gave you my sales pitch. Please? It's my job if I don't."

Stein paused for only a second before forcefully pushing the door closed. Face barely got his foot out in time.

"But, Mister Stein! Health insurance is the most important gift you can give yourself! You'll be sorry if you don't take advantage of this opportunity!" he called out. For a moment the con man thought his team mates didn't get enough time to come in the back way. He raised his hand to the doorbell but was interrupted before he could ring it.

From the other side, he heard an unintelligible shout and the sound of splintering wood. Part of a wooden chair shattered the window beside the door on its way outside.

Straightening his tie once again, Face opened the door and, looking around outside for any spectators and seeing none, stepped inside.


	9. Chapter 9

Monster

Disclaimer: I do not own The A-Team movie or television series or any of the delightful characters found on The A-Team.

Chapter 9

"Am I too late for the party, guys?" Face smirked, setting his briefcase down beside him. Frowning at the shoe he used as a door block, he rubbed at a scuff mark. "Look at that! My Guccis are ruined!"

The orderly lay on his back on the floor, B. A. straddling him. As Hannibal and Face watched, the Sergeant drew back one meaty fist and punched the other man in the mouth. Stein sucked in a pained breath.

"That's for all the vets ya been mistreatin' at the VA hospital!" B. A. growled. The orderly glared defiantly up at him, his jaw muscles twitching in restrained silence. As he struggled against B. A.'s hold, blood trickled down the side of his mouth.

Face shook his head in mock sympathy and shrugged. "You really should have let me sell you that insurance. Too late now."

Hannibal, busying himself with lighting a fresh cigar, gazed down at Stein thoughtfully. A few seconds later, he walked over to squat beside the orderly. An icy smile on his face, the Colonel appraised the snarling captive before speaking.

"Like my friend here said, we hear you've been abusing the patients over at the VA hospital." Hannibal's tone dropped lower, more threatening. "Are you on a little power trip, Mister Stein? You like beating up people weaker than yourself?"

Stein kicked out with one leg and, in response, B. A. cuffed him, this time with an open palm across the face. "Answer the man!"

The captive twisted his head around and spat blood in the direction of Face's feet. He found his target, eliciting an angry curse from the Lieutenant. Then he smiled up at the Colonel, exposing crooked teeth. "What's it to ya, pal?"

The Colonel drew on his cigar and exhaled the smoke into Stein's face. Clamping his cigar between his teeth, he rose to his feet. "Wrong answer. My friend here hates bullies . . . especially those that disrespect men who fought for our country. I _could_ let him administer a little justice on behalf of those patients you've intimidated . . . "

Under his breath, B. A. muttered, " _Now_ you're talkin'" but did nothing more than to glare down at his captive.

" . . . _or_ you could quit your job immediately and leave the area . . . leave California . . . and never come back."

"Like hell I will!" Stein growled. "You got no proof of _anything_. And those loonies ain't going to say anything. Who would believe them anyway?"

The A-team leader tsked and shook his head. "Another wrong answer. Too bad." Hannibal nodded to Face and motioned with his head toward a door leading into a kitchen area.

Stein watched the con man pick his way around a splintered chair and disappear through the doorway. For several seconds, the Colonel smoked his cigar while the orderly tried to free himself.

The captive stopped when Amy entered the room, followed closely by Face.

"I believe you've seen Miss Allen at the VA. She's a reporter for the _Courier_." Hannibal smiled at Stein.

The orderly scowled at her causing Amy to draw in a steadying breath. Face placed his hand on her shoulder, a gesture that seemed to give the reporter strength.

"So what?" Stein sneered.

"You probably didn't know she was in the process of interviewing patients for a Veteran's Day special. But she told me she thinks _you_ would make a much better story." The Colonel looked at the reporter. "He _is_ the one, isn't he? He's the one that the patients seem to be afraid of?"

Amy gave the orderly a brief disgusted glance, then looked away. "Yes. He's the one who came in when I was interviewing Captain Murdock at the hospital. The patient seemed more agitated in his presence. _And_ the nurse I spoke to has doubts about where the Captain received the black eye he has."

Hannibal continued. "When she reveals to the proper authorities the background she managed to dig up on you . . . " He ignored the slightly puzzled look Amy gave him. " . . . and the ongoing patient abuse from your hands . . . " He shook his head. "You're going to jail, Stein. But I'm sure Miss Allen would consider not writing an article exposing you if you were to suddenly disappear."

Stein sneered at the men surrounding him. "Yeah? And who's going to make me?"

The Colonel flicked ash onto the carpeted floor, then squatted again near Stein's head. Coming to within a foot of the orderly, he stubbed out his cigar an inch from the man's right ear. "We have ways to ensure you disappear. And, trust me, you will." He patted the orderly on the shoulder and smiled. "Think about it . . . _pal_."

Nodding to his men and Amy, he got to his feet and left the house the way he came, the rest following. As he left, B. A. gave Stein his darkest scowl and smacked one fist in his open palm, muttering, "Just _give_ me a reason ta come back an' finish this."

Face himself couldn't resist one more taunt. "Maybe you should consider buying life insurance instead." Then he, too, left the orderly's house.


	10. Chapter 10

Monster

Disclaimer: I do not own The A-Team movie or television series or any of the delightful characters found on The A-Team.

Chapter 10

"So what do you think, Colonel?" Face looked through the windshield of the van at Stein's house. "Do you think we put enough of a scare in him so he'll get out of L. A.?"

B. A. snorted. "If ya'd let me do what I wanted ya wouldn't hafta ask that question."

"And we'd be on the run from the police _and_ the military," the Lieutenant answered. "So what do _you_ think, Colonel?"

Hannibal shook his head, staring at the house. "Not likely. But at least he knows we're around in case he does anything else."

Amy spoke up, her voice belying her nervous relief over leaving Stein's house when they did. "In case he _does_ anything? Is Murdock in danger?" She thought for a second. "Am _I_? You _did_ tell him I had information about him that would get him arrested. I haven't had the chance to look . . . "

The Colonel interrupted her with a dry chuckle. "A slimeball like Stein _always_ has a history. It's up to you to find it, kid. _And_ make sure the right people see it."

"So you want me to investigate his past?" Amy murmured, her reluctance evident in her tone.

"It shouldn't take much," Face added. "I wouldn't be surprised if his own _mother_ has stories about him that would curl your toes."

"If he's _got_ a mother," B. A. corrected in a low rumble.

Amy sighed. "I can't do much tonight. I'll start my search in the morning." Then she groaned, remembering her promise to Murdock. "But I told Murdock I would spring him tomorrow so he could have some time away from the hospital."

"And you should do that. He can stay with me." Face glanced toward the house once more and abruptly straightened in his seat. Under his breath he muttered to Hannibal, "Now where do you think _he's_ going?" He pointed at the garage door as it opened.

Hannibal frowned. "Miss Allen, we're going to let you off here. We'll be in touch." He watched intently as Stein backed his station wagon out onto the street.

"You can bet he isn't going to a bar to meet up with friends. Doubt if he _has_ friends." Face quickly opened the side door to let Amy out. In the next moment, the Colonel motioned with his head and gave B. A. the command. "Follow him."

Amy stared after the receding taillights of the van for a moment, then walked briskly back to her car. She would begin her search by finding out how long Stein had lived in California and where he had lived before. It was late to make phone calls but she knew she had to begin immediately. In the morning she would get Murdock out of the VA somehow. She knew the guys would be busy with Stein. So she would have Murdock stay with her for the day.

 _And then he can help me figure out what skeletons Stein has in his closet. Besides recuperating . . . he needs a lot of time to recuperate . . ._

Shivering, she couldn't help thinking what Stein might do to Murdock if he decided to take revenge.

 _Hannibal's right_ , she thought as she drove down the street. _A guy like Stein won't stop until someone stops him._

Suddenly she got a bad feeling about where the orderly might be going. Murdock was helpless in his sedated state and Stein . . .

Swallowing hard, she pressed down on the accelerator and hoped she wouldn't attract the attention of any police officers.

oooooo

B. A. cursed as he peered around the darkening streets looking for the black station wagon. It hadn't taken Stein very long to figure out the van a block behind him was duplicating his every move. He led them through several twists and turns and eventually lost them.

"Somehow I got the feeling Stein's not on his way to tip a few drinks with his buddies," Face muttered from where he leaned forward between the front seats of the van. "And since he didn't pack anything in his car, he isn't leaving town."

"Which we _figured_ he wouldn't do without some pressure," the Colonel added. He frowned out the window at the houses and made a decision. "Whether Lynch and his men are prowling around or not, we'd better make sure Stein hasn't doubled around to finish what he started with Murdock."

"Hannibal . . . " Face started, his voice laced heavy with concern for his friend. "If Murdock's as out of it as Amy said . . . "

Hannibal interrupted. "Sergeant, get us to the VA as fast as you can."

"On it, Colonel," B. A. growled, speeding up and heading toward Westwood. "An' if he's hurt the fool . . . "

"You can have him after _I'm_ done with him," Hannibal responded, his gaze fixed straight ahead.

oooooo

Murdock waded through the nightmare fuzziness of his mind.

Vines . . . jungle vines surrounded him and tore at his feet as he struggled to wake up. Something was coming . . . he didn't know how he knew that but it was . . . it was as big as Bigfoot but scarier because it was created from dead flesh and body parts . . .

 _It wants t' hook me up t' th' 'lectrodes 'n' make me like Frankenstein's monster . . ._

The jungle was growing denser and darker with every step. He squinted and turned slowly in a circle to scrutinize his immediate surroundings. Unusual that the darkness was so quiet. Unsettling, too. He held his breath for a few moments, listening for the slightest noise.

 _Nothin' there . . . but it's comin' . . . oh God . . . it's comin' . . ._

He took another step, intending to try to run. Maybe he would find a tree he could climb. He was pretty sure whatever was pursuing him couldn't climb . . .

The next moment something clutched at his feet and brought him down hard on the jungle floor. Pain blossomed in his shoulder and made him aware he had been injured somehow . . .

 _But how? I don' r'member . . . did I get shot . . . 'r was I shot down?_

Without meaning to, he moaned loudly.

Of one thing he was certain . . . if he didn't get free from whatever kept his feet from moving, _it_ . . . the monster scarier than Bigfoot . . . would get him. He moaned again, in frustration this time as he kicked futilely against the vines.

Within a few seconds, the jungle creatures woke up and came to life. Their cries started softly at first, then crescendoed. Strangely enough, many of them . . . those he was able to distingush from the rest . . . sounded almost human . . .

He heard footsteps . . . several of them . . . and banging sounds . . . the voices continued to wail in terror.

His throat felt raw with his own screams but he couldn't stop, not while the monster was hunting him.

The darkness morphed into a dim light, like the dawn of a new day in the jungle. A muffled voice . . . female . . . said something from close by . . . sounded hassled and weary . . .

He felt his arms being pinned down to his sides. A deep male voice answered her, the warm putrid breath fanning his face. He turned his head away from the odor, crying out louder, realizing the monster had found him and even now, had him in its grips.

The voice was deep and familiar . . . frightening even though the words were not. "Good thing I came back when I did. Looks like you have your hands full. I'll keep Murdock company. You tend to the other patients."

"If you're sure . . . "

"I can settle him down," the male voice insisted.

Footsteps retreated and something clicked shut in the distance.

"I'm back." The voice above him was soft and menacing. "You and I have some business to be taken care of before I leave L. A. And your _friends_ can't help you this time."


	11. Chapter 11

Monster

Disclaimer: I do not own The A-Team movie or television series or any of the delightful characters found on The A-Team.

Chapter 11

Hearing Stein's voice so close to him, Murdock intensified his efforts to override the sedatives in his system. In the next moment, a large wad of cloth stuffed roughly in his mouth stifled his screams for help.

He felt Stein shove the sleeve of his flannel shirt up, exposing his forearm. Whimpering out a protest over the gag, he knew what was going to happen and also knew he was unable to prevent it. He couldn't even open his eyes.

"I'm not going to give you enough to kill you . . . " the orderly muttered. "Only enough to make you stop yelling." There was a pause before he added, "No one will question why I had to give you something to calm you down."

The needle pierced Murdock's vein and discharged its dose into his bloodstream. Within a minute, his muscles involuntarily relaxed and his mind went fuzzy.

He vaguely heard Stein as he described how the pilot was going to die. "It has to look like a suicide. No one will blame me if I didn't find the knife you had hidden in your mattress. If only I had known, you wouldn't have done this . . . "

In his drug-induced stupor, he wanted to struggle but couldn't make the connection between his brain and muscles. Stein thrust the butter knife into the soft tissue of Murdock's upper abdomen with such force, the Captain's body convulsed once violently, then was still. Despite the sedatives and gag, Murdock moaned.

"The only thing cutting your wrists would do is to sever your tendons. You wouldn't bleed enough to die. This is more certain. Don't worry. You won't suffer alone. I'll stay until you fall asleep," the monster crooned, close enough to the pilot's ear to cut through his clouded senses.

Murdock didn't know what was worse: to die or to have 'Frankie' the monster stay to watch.

"You really shouldn't have said anything to that reporter, you know. She'll have to be next. _Then_ I'll take your friends' advice and leave California."

At that, Murdock tried desperately once again to tell his muscles to move but they remained motionless. He had to warn Amy . . . protect her . . .

He got only a soft gasp out, one easily quieted by the gag. He realized in dismay he had lost control over his vocal cords. Stein smiled with satisfaction.

"Speechless? That's too bad. Where's your friends now?" the orderly sneered as he removed the gag and curled both of the pilot's hands around the hilt of the knife. "Like I said, it has to look like you did it to yourself."

Then he washed his hands at the sink, moved a few feet away out of reach, sitting on the bed, and waited for Murdock to slip into unconsciousness.

oooooo

Amy sat in her car, staring at the hospital and building up her courage. The black station wagon was parked on the other side of the lot. She knew she should wait for the rest of the team to back her up but if she did . . .

 _Stein will hurt or kill Murdock. And none of the staff will see it happen, I'm sure of that._

She made up her mind, swallowed her fear and left her car.

oooooo

Nurse Sharon left one room, its inhabitant quiet now, and moved to the next. She didn't hear any loud wailing coming from the Captain's room and sighed in relief. Stein wasn't her favorite orderly to help her settle the patients down but in this case, with a whole ward of terrified, screaming patients, she was glad for his help.

She knew Stein was on duty the night Captain Murdock got his black eye. He admitted to dislocating the Captain's shoulder but claimed it was only an accident. For that reason, she was suspicious of his methods. She resolved to check in on the patient as soon as the ward was quiet.

The elevator dinged and the doors slid open with a whoosh. Glancing over her shoulder, Sharon frowned at the woman walking quickly toward her.

She waited impatiently, knowing if she left even one patient in a state of distress, the symphony of wails and screams could increase in volume again.

"I need to see Captain Murdock," the young woman demanded, her expression grim.

"Now is not a good time. We have a bit of an emergency going on, if you hadn't noticed." She gestured at the rooms around her, hoping the woman would get the hint and leave. Surely the intruder wasn't deaf, was she?

Sharon turned to attend to the patient in the next room and immediately felt the unwelcome visitor grip her elbow to stop her.

"My name is Amy Allen and I need to see Captain Murdock _right now_! I'm his friend." she insisted.

"You can't, Miss Allen. He's the one who _started_ all of this with his screams. We just got him settled down. Now we have to help the rest."

"Then tell me if Victor Stein is here."

At the mention of the name, the nurse stopped walking and turned. The intense look on Amy's face reactivated the suspicions Sharon had been mulling over the past hour.

"Yes . . . he came back after his shift ended. I assumed he forgot something and returned to get it." She took a steadying breath. "Why do you ask?" The uneasy feeling in her gut intensified.

"He's not with Captain Murdock, is he?" Amy paled as she said it and her gaze shifted to the door to the pilot's room.

"He saw we needed help. He volunteered to calm Mister Murdock down." Sharon glanced at the Captain's door. "I don't hear anything. He must have succeeded."

She noted Amy's desperation grow visibly. "You _have_ to let me see him. Please . . . " The young woman tightened her grip around Sharon's elbow.

"I have a few more patients to tend to. Then we can check on him together. But you can't stay for more than a minute. That's the best I can do for you, Miss Allen." She moved to the next patient's door and saw Amy hurry toward Rick the night orderly who had just left a room close by. As she listened, the woman frantically restated her request to the orderly.

Amy's panic had its effect on Sharon. Just as the nurse decided to check in on Murdock next, Stein came out of the room. He nodded at her as he gently closed the door behind him.

"He's close to falling asleep. I had to give him a little more haloperidol. You should have no more trouble from him tonight." The orderly peered past her at the woman begging Rick for access to Mister Murdock. Scowling, Stein turned his back on her and quickly made his way toward the elevator.

"You had no authorization to give the patient more sedatives," Sharon protested. She thought about stopping Stein and giving him a stern reprimand. Something didn't seem right about the lack of _any_ noise coming from the veteran pilot's room and Stein's hurried departure from the ward.

"He's quiet now, isn't he? You can thank me later." With that, Stein punched the elevator button and slipped through the doors as soon as they opened. The last Sharon saw of Stein was a fierce glare in the direction of the visitor.

Rick was already inserting his key in the patient's door lock when Sharon turned toward Murdock's room. The woman was right behind him, pushed past him as soon as the door was open.

Seconds later, she heard Amy cry out. "Someone get a doctor!"


	12. Chapter 12

Monster

Disclaimer: I do not own The A-Team movie or television series or any of the delightful characters found on The A-Team.

Chapter 12

Murdock waited for Frankie to leave the room. Fighting to remain conscious, he knew instinctively that if he should fall asleep he might not wake up again.

 _But how'm I gonna get help?_

The monster didn't seem to be in any hurry to rush off. Maybe if he pretended to fall asleep?

The knife shifted in position slightly as his hands loosened from where the orderly placed them. The resulting pain sent a shock wave through his body and pushed him even closer to the darkness.

 _Stay 'wake . . ._

He almost groaned again but stifled it just in time. Stein wouldn't go away if he thought Murdock was still conscious.

 _Stay 'wake . . . stay 'wake . . ._

His breath hitched as his fingers slid away from the knife handle. The blade shimmied in the wound and sent another wave of electric pain through him. He let his hands fall motionless to his sides, hoping Stein believed his pretended state of unconsciousness. Would the orderly watch him bleed out until he was near death?

He lay as still as he could and tried not to think about that. Instead, he mentally clicked on the tape recorder in his mind to 'Play' so it repeated the two words that meant life to him.

 _Stay 'wake . . . stay 'wake . . ._

Time . . . he didn't know how much time . . . passed. Finally he sensed the mattress move a little as Stein stood up. Murdock felt the knife wiggle back and forth in the wound. He couldn't let the monster know he was conscious enough to feel that. Biting the inside of his cheek hard, tasting coppery blood, he kept himself from reacting to Stein's last cruel act.

 _Stay 'wake . . ._

"Sleep well, Murdock," the orderly growled close to the pilot's head. He sounded triumphant.

Murdock allowed himself one non-verbalized murderous thought before returning to his mantra.

 _Go t' hell, Frankie . . ._

As footsteps retreated toward the door, Murdock unsuccessfully ordered the inside of his head to stop spinning.

 _Stay 'wake . . . stay 'wake . . ._

The door opened and closed. He heard Stein speak to someone . . . _th' night nurse?_. . . and a female voice respond . . . no, there were _two_ female voices . . . and one was as familiar to him as the voices of any of the staff nurses.

 _Amy! Help . . ._

His mind must have went black for just a moment. When he was aware again of the pain in his abdomen, he was also aware of her hand gripping his and her panicked voice very near him.

"Someone get a doctor!"

He remembered his hands had been positioned around the butter knife handle and realized faintly that his blood must be all over them. And Amy was holding one of his hands.

A half-thought formed in his mind.

 _She shouldn' hafta get messy on my account._

He tried to make his muscles obey to shoo the reporter's hands away from him. They wouldn't listen.

It was strange. He needed her touch in order to keep him from slipping down the dark rabbit hole but he didn't want to die and leave his blood all over her.

He heard a flurry of rustling and muffled voices nearing his bed.

"I have to go. Stein must have lost the guys on the way here. If I don't follow him . . . " Amy breathed deeply, squeezed his hand once and kissed his cheek. "I'll be back."

He sensed her stand up from where she was beside him. He wanted to call after her . . . to tell her to stay . . . to warn her that Stein might be waiting outside for her . . . that Stein was going to kill her if . . . no . . . _when_ he got the chance . . .

None of those words came out. Instead, he heard himself slurring unintelligible garbage in a half-mumble.

Others surrounded him now. One took his wrist and felt for a pulse. Something with squeaky wheels neared and he was lifted from his bed to another surface.

He couldn't fight any of them. He couldn't go after Amy to stop her from walking into danger. It was becoming more difficult to stay awake and resist sliding into darkness. With a futile final effort, he exhausted all of his remaining energy to warn her. It came out as a soft moan.

 _Winds rushed past the cockpit of the Piper Cub he was flying. They roared in his ears and silenced everything else. He ascended into the swirling maelstrom of a black cloud bank and lost all sense of where he was._

 _He was lost in time and space . . . and he wasn't sure he would ever emerge unscathed . . ._

oooooo

Amy knew she had to hurry if she had any chance of getting to her car before Stein drove out of sight. As far as she knew, the guys were still trying to track the monstrous orderly through the Van Nuys neighborhood.

If there was any hope of justice for all of the patients on the psychiatric wing of the VA hospital, and especially for Murdock who had taken the brunt of Stein's abuse, she had to follow him. She still had the walkie talkie. Once at her car, she would let the guys know where he was heading.

She continued to tell herself that Murdock was in good hands, that she would have been no use to him had she stayed. A part of her had wanted to remain by his side, to be there for him.

Nodding at a security guard making his rounds, she pushed through the main doors to the outside.

One glance told her Stein's station wagon had not yet left the parking lot. She paused for a moment. Frowning, she scanned the surrounding area. The orderly was nowhere to be seen.

 _He wouldn't have taken off on foot, would he?_

The black van wasn't anywhere to be seen either.

For a moment she considered going back to Murdock's ward.

Something about Stein's disappearance unsettled her. She shook off the feeling, reasoning that the orderly might still be inside.

 _Maybe he's in the employee locker room gathering his things._

Slinging her purse over her shoulder, she strode toward her car. Once there she would get in touch with the guys while watching for Stein to make his exit.

Attempting to fit the key in the lock, she breathed a sigh of relief and willed her hands to stop shaking. She wasn't sure what was making her so panicky.

 _Probably just nerves. I mean, all I'm doing is making sure Frankenstein's monster doesn't escape._

A crunch of gravel alerted her to someone who had come up behind her. The jab of a hypodermic in her neck told her who it was even before the monster spoke.

"The two of us have some unfinished business," Stein growled as Amy's legs gave out under her.

She didn't have time to even respond before her world went dark.


	13. Chapter 13

Monster

Disclaimer: I do not own The A-Team movie or television series or any of the delightful characters found on The A-Team.

Chapter 13

B. A. guided the van along Dowlen Drive toward the VA hospital parking lot, cursing under his breath about losing sight of Stein's vehicle. The other two occupants were silent and tense.

"Hold up, B. A.," Hannibal muttered as he stared toward their destination.

A dark blue sedan stood outside, highlighted by the flashing lights of two police squad cars. As they watched, a uniformed man got out, scanned the parking lot once and strode toward the hospital entrance. He was closely followed by an MP.

"Hannibal? " Face moved forward between the front seats to get a better view. "Is that who I think it is?"

The Colonel clamped down on the cigar in his mouth and gestured to B. A. to drive past the lot entrance. "Lynch."

"Stein's wagon's still there," the driver growled, his hands tightening on the steering wheel.

"I've got a bad feeling about this, Colonel," Face murmured, settling back in his seat.

"One thing's for sure. We can't check on Murdock with Lynch prowling around. And something must be happening for him to even _be_ here this time of night." Hannibal scowled at the parking lot in the passenger's side mirror as B. A. drove slowly away. "Stein must have gotten to Murdock. And Lynch was called in because Murdock is tied to us."

The Sergeant growled his disapproval. "Fool wouldn'ta been able ta defend himself if he was drugged up."

"But why is Stein's car still there?" Face mused.

"Do you honestly think Stein would do something to Murdock and then wait around for the police? He's gone. I'm sure of it. But where did he go? He wouldn't have started off on foot." Hannibal took the walkie talkie from its place and spoke into it. "Miss Allen, do you read me?"

"What are you going to do?" the Lieutenant asked.

"I'm going to see if she can get in to find out what's going on. She _is_ a reporter." The Colonel listened impatiently for a minute, then handed the device to Face. "Nothing."

"You don't think Amy went back to see Murdock and . . . " The con man's expression and tone were grim.

"You put tracking devices in both walkie talkies just in case we ever needed to use them, right, B. A.?" Hannibal interrupted him, fiddling with the dash-mounted screen as he spoke.

"Like ya asked me to." The black man slowed to a stop and waited impatiently for the Colonel to give further orders. They were far enough away from the parking lot to not be seen by the wrong people.

Hannibal peered at the moving dot on the screen. "It looks like her car is headed north on Outpost Drive."

Face frowned. "Isn't that in the Hollywood Heights neighborhood? What would she be doing up there? Going to the Hollywood Bowl?"

The Colonel impatiently shook his head in response. "Stein must have stolen her car."

Face groaned in frustration. "And the only way he would have gotten it is if she ran into him in the parking lot. She's got to be with him."

"Stein isn't going up into the Hills with Miss Allen to do some sightseeing." Hannibal glanced at B. A. and Face in turn, his concern evident. "She's a loose end he would want to get rid of. He could dump her anywhere up there and she wouldn't be found for days or weeks."

"We've got to intercept him before that happens, Hannibal." Face stated the obvious, once again leaning between the front seats to stare at the moving dot on the screen.

"Agreed. Step on it, B. A.," the Colonel ordered.

oooooo

Stein glanced over at Amy's limp form beside him in the front seat of her car. She was still breathing but had not stirred since he sedated her. He wasn't sure it was worthwhile trying to make her death look like an accident. Who would believe it?

Nurse Sharon saw him leave Murdock's room and the reporter had been insistent she see the pilot immediately. He was certain she had been successful and discovered what he had done. She would have sounded the alarm.

"They aren't stupid. They'll know. If only you hadn't come back to the hospital . . . " He turned cold hostile eyes on her. ". . . they might have believed Murdock tried to kill himself. But I don't have to be held accountable for _both_ of your deaths. No one but Sharon and Rick know you were there. By the time someone worries about your disappearance, I'll be gone."

There were too many residences along Outpost Drive to make it a convenient place to dump the reporter's body.. Humming to himself, Stein turned left on Mulholland toward Runyon Canyon.

He heard the slosh of the wine bottle on the floor behind him and smiled. It would be easy to stage her 'accident.'

oooooo

 _Come on, l'il lady! I know ya wanna keep on goin' but you're runnin' on empty._

Murdock looked down at the fuel gauge on the dash of the Piper Cub and grimaced.

 _This ain' gonna be a pretty landin' if ya don' let me put us down gentle. Please?_

There were muffled voices coming in and out of the headset he wore. The signal went from weak to strong and back again.

 _Mus' be an airport somewhere close by. If we can only get . . ._

A gust of wind tossed the small plane to one side like it was a child's toy.

 _Now we ain' s'posed t' be flyin' perpendicular, darlin'. I ain' tryin' t' do any stunts right now._

He forced the plane to level out, both wings parallel to the ground.

 _Don' that feel a lot better? Now 'bout that airport . . ._

Feverishly he fought to get below the black cloud bank with its threatening winds. The Cub was again thrown on one wing and the pilot again struggled to get the plane righted.

 _Sorry 'bout that, li'l lady. I must o' let my guard down. Won' happen 'gain._

He forced the plane to descend, his sweaty hands gripping the controls with all the strength he had. Light appeared below him and he coaxed the Cub toward it.

 _There's our ticket outta this storm. Won' it feel good t' get outta the weather?_

The voices over the headset were becoming clearer but the more he heard, the more confused he became.

 _They don' soun' like air traffic control._

The little plane dropped several hundred feet as if in response.

 _Whoa there, girl. I don' see any landin' strip lights yet._

He peered down and found the air was clear below him. He swore under his breath. He was flying too close to the ground. Silently, he pleaded with the Cub.

 _We don' wanna crash. B'lieve me, crashin' ain' worth th' few seconds o' 'drenaline rush._

He tried to find some familiar landmarks. Eyes searching for anything he could identify, he spotted Amy's car traveling on a road below. He thought he recognized the place.

 _But why's she in th' Hollywood Heights?_

Murdock gritted his teeth, suddenly aware of a growing intense pain in his upper abdomen. With the pain came the memory of Stein and what he had done, of Amy beside him as he struggled to stay awake . . .

 _Amy's in danger . . ._

He felt strong hands slip a mask over the lower part of his face and as he breathed in he realized he wasn't in the air in a plane at all. He struck out with his hands, trying to rid himself of the sweet heavy gas flowing into the mask.

Within seconds he succumbed to the anesthesia and fell into a deep sleep.


	14. Chapter 14

Monster

Disclaimer: I do not own The A-Team movie or television series or any of the delightful characters found on The A-Team.

Author's note: In 1984, the land which comprises Runyon Canyon Park was purchased from a private entity to become one of Los Angeles's city parks. The Runyon Canyon Road runs from the northern to the southern end and is paved but closed to public motorized vehicles. It is a hikers' trail but is called a fire road in some of my sources. I place this story in about 1983, before the land became a park, perhaps making it possible for Stein to travel there.

Chapter 14

"He's stopped," Face announced suddenly. _Thank God! Maybe we have a chance of catching up to him,_ the con man thought with mixed emotions of relief and anger. But the dot had stopped moving on the Runyon Canyon Road and they were still on Mulholland.

B. A. only briefly glanced at the screen. Pressing down on the accelerator, he growled a muttered threat against the man who kidnapped Amy.

Hannibal relit a cigar he had stubbed out. Staring coldly out the passenger's window at their darkened surroundings, he remained silent.

"That can mean only one thing, Hannibal," Face continued.

"We don't need you to draw us a picture, Lieutenant. Take note of where he stopped. One of us will have to look for Miss Allen." The Colonel tapped the armrest impatiently with one gloved hand.

 _B. A. won't let either of us drive and Hannibal will want to be there to keep B. A. from . . . wait . . . that means . . ._

The con man sighed in frustration and ran a hand over his hair, smoothing it back. " . . . while the others track down Stein and give him a taste of his own medicine," he finished, bitterness evident in his tone. "Guess I'm the one who'll be trying to find Amy, huh?"

Hannibal looked back at him sharply. "That's right."

 _Damn!_

Seeing Face's pentup anger the Colonel's expression softened slightly. "Much as I know you want to make sure Stein pays for what he did to Murdock and the other patients, _someone_ has to locate her. _And_ tend to her injuries if he's injured her."

Face noticed Hannibal purposely avoided expressing the worry they must all share: that he killed their friend and left her in a place no one would look. The con man tensed at the thought and resolutely kept his gaze on the screen. "Well, he hasn't started moving yet. Maybe we can get to him _before_ he does anything."

 _Come on, B. A.! Can you move any faster?_

As if reading his thoughts, the black man responded. "Road winds. Ain't no way I'm gonna be able ta make some o' those curves without slowin' down." B. A. glowered for a second at the unmoving dot. "I'll do th' best I can."

Both Hannibal and Face noticed the van seemed to speed up despite the driver's warning.

"Hang on," B. A. muttered. The other two men braced themselves as the Sergeant negotiated a curve so fast Face wondered if part of the way they were riding on only two wheels.

They were getting closer but who knew when Stein would start moving again.

oooooo

Stein peered out his side window at Runyon Canyon, aware that there were some houses below that might see him when he rolled the woman down the slope. He was waiting for just the right place before he disposed of her.

He was certain that if he did it right, she would not be able to climb or even crawl up to the road. It had to look like she drank too much and didn't know where she was walking. He shrugged as if to respond to his own thoughts.

 _If she dies of exposure, they might believe I didn't have anything to do with it._

As if that worried him. By the time they decided she was missing and not simply out on assignment or on the trail of a news story he would be halfway across the country, heading east.

 _I've never been to Texas. Big enough state I should be able to shake any tracks I left behind._

By now he figured Murdock was in surgery. He would probably live, a thought that annoyed the orderly. Again, he glanced over to the reporter and scowled.

"If not for you . . . " he muttered. Amy's head moved slightly. She moaned softly, her eyelids parting a little.

 _But they may not believe Murdock's story about what happened to him. Don't his charts say he's delusional and paranoid? Can't take any chances though._

He glared briefly at Amy and searched the darkened slopes more fervently for a good spot to dump her.

A couple of minutes passed and he finally stopped. Getting out of the car, he stepped around to the passenger's side where Amy was slowly regaining consciousness.

Stein grabbed the wine bottle from the back seat. Uncorking it, he pinched Amy's nose shut with his fingers. When she opened her mouth in an attempt to breathe, he sloshed the contents in and watched with satisfaction as she gulped, sputtering a little as she did.

"That's right. Drink it down,"he muttered. Letting her take a breath, he repeated the process until most of the wine was gone. Her clawing hands had no effect on him. He tossed the near-empty bottle in the chaparral grasses behind him.

Forcing her to her feet, he grappled her around the waist and pushed her toward the edge of the road.

Her feet dragged on the pavement but not, he noted, because she was resisting. The sedative combined with the alcohol made her struggle weak and ineffective.

He let her fall forward and grunted with a sense of accomplishment when she tumbled down the hillside as limp as a rag doll. He didn't stay to see if her body stopped before it reached the bottom. Even though the Runyon Canyon Road was quiet and dark this time of night, he could not be certain there would be no vehicle traffic.

Getting in Amy's car and slamming the door, he continued on his way, thinking about his next move.

oooooo

As she felt Stein lift her up out of the car and force her to move, she knew it might be to her death.

Her mind was still fuzzy from whatever the orderly had injected into her system. The wine he had forced into her wasn't helping.

 _But I'm not going to disappear without leaving some trace of where he dumped me._

Purposely dragging her feet, she managed to leave behind one of her shoes on the roadside, hoping someone besides Stein would see it and investigate.

The next minute she was falling, sharp rocks, prickly shrubs and plants tearing at her clothing and skin as she rolled down the slope. She tried not to cry out, afraid that Stein would find a way to silence her instantly.

At one point, she felt her forehead make contact with a larger stone. Her senses reeling, she was barely conscious when her back came to rest against a manzanita shrub several yards from the road above. She willed herself to stay conscious. Her survival depended on it.

As she watched, her car began to move and soon disappeared from her view.

She was still alive . . . for now . . . but she wasn't sure how badly she had been injured. She was also alone with no reason to believe she would be found soon.

 _At least if I get to the road, I have a better chance of someone seeing me._

Peering up the slope, she groaned. The road seemed an impossibly long way from where she was. She wasn't sure she could make it.

 _But I have to._


	15. Chapter 15

Monster

Disclaimer: I do not own The A-Team movie or television series or any of the delightful characters found on The A-Team.

Chapter 15

Amy took a deep breath and groped for the next handhold, wrapping her hand around the branch of a buckbrush shrub.

Her injuries were minor compared to what they would have been if the manzanita bush had not stopped her tumble down the slope. As far as she could determine she had several cuts and bruises but nothing broken.

She wasn't sure if she had a concussion or not. The blood from the gash on her forehead was blurring her vision.

 _Or do I have a concussion and it's making my eyes all wonky?_

Wonky. Now there was a word she knew Murdock would use . . . probably repeat several times until B. A. threatened to make sure he knew the meaning of the word.

The last she had seen of Murdock he was bleeding out around a butter knife that Stein had stabbed him with. She remembered alerting the staff and then leaving the hospital to track Stein.

After that, her memory was a bit confused . . .

 _. . . except I kicked off a shoe when Stein dumped me. But who's going to find it and when? And what if Murdock doesn't survive surgery?_

Her already blurry vision grew worse from the mist of tears that pooled and spilled down her cheeks.

 _If only I had stayed with him . . . what did I think I was doing? The guys depended on me and Stein got to him anyway. If I had been quicker and got someone in there while Stein was still with him . . ._

Not knowing Murdock's condition and realizing the guys had no way of getting to him made her redouble her efforts to climb up to the road.

Sharp rocks tore at the skin of her abdomen as she dragged herself one arms-length closer to the road. She refused to let herself think about what she would do once she reached her destination. As woozy as she still was she knew she wouldn't be walking.

 _But I'll figure that out when I come to it._

Looking up, she saw the yards she had left to climb and groaned.

 _Stop it, Amy! Don't look at the road. Look at the next shrub and get to that. Small steps, Amy . . . small steps . . ._

She stifled a sobbing giggle when she realized what she had just thought. She could no more take a small step than she could miraculously sprout wings and fly the remaining distance. A slight breeze fanned her face as if a bird had flown very near to her.

Wings and flight reminded her of Murdock once again. It was for him she had to try to get to the road.

 _Keep going, Amy! Just keep going!_

But her head had other ideas. A wave of dizziness pushed her toward the edge of consciousness and with her next groping reach, she passed out.

ooooooo

Face released a frustrated sigh when he noticed the dot on the screen begin to move again.

"I see it, kid," Hannibal muttered.

Both men looked at B. A. "Doin' the best I can," he responded in a low growl, whipping the wheel to the left to navigate a curve.

"It can't be very far now," Face murmured. Despite the wild ride they were all experiencing, he had crept back to the position between the two front seats so he could better monitor the tracking screen.

Everyone in the van was silent for the next few minutes, each man peering out at the darkened road, hoping to see Amy's car or the reporter herself.

"What's that?" The con man pointed and tumbled forward as B. A. slammed on the brakes.

All three men saw it. A light-colored shoe that had been discarded on the side of the road.

"It's close to where that slimeball stopped." Hannibal was already opening his door, his earlier thought about pursuing Stein pushed aside. He had already retrieved a flashlight from the glove compartment.

B. A. put the van in 'Park' and let it idle as he joined his leader.

"It's Amy's. I'm sure of it," Face insisted, picking the shoe up to turn it over in his hands. The Colonel was scanning the slope from the shoulder of the road. The flashlight beam scoured the thicketed terrain but picked up no movement.

In the next minute, he was picking his way down to where an off-white piece of fabric dangled from a low branch of a buckbrush shrub.

Moving beyond the shrubs, he called out. "Miss Allen?"

Face glanced down in regret at his Brioni custom-made pants for only a second before scrambling down the slope after his leader.

"Amy!" He cupped his hands around his mouth and carefully navigated the dense chaparral vegetation.

"B. A.!" Hannibal called, coming to a stop behind a spreading manzanita shrub. Kneeling down, he spoke low comforting words to someone lying on the ground.

"Found her, Colonel?" Face continued to pick his way toward him. B. A. passed him, moving quicker over the rough terrain than the con man thought safe.

Before Face could get to them, B. A. started his return up the slope, carrying someone in his arms.

Her head cradled against his chest, her eyes closed, Amy grimaced against her pain.

Hannibal followed him, his expression somber and furious. "Get out the first aid kit, Lieutenant. I don't know how badly she's injured."

Face gaped at the copious amount of blood streaming from Amy's head wound and scrambled back up to the road without another word. Digging out the kit, he began to lay out gauze and packets of antiseptic.

"Assess her condition, Face." Hannibal climbed into his seat and narrowed his eyes at the tracking screen.

Between the con man and the burly Sergeant, they managed to get Amy comfortable on the floor in the back. Her pained expression smoothed as she passed out again.

"We followin' him, Hannibal?" B. A. had already taken his position, his hands gripping the steering wheel.

"What do you think?" the Colonel growled as the black man continued down the road toward the flashing, moving dot that was their enemy.

oooooo

Murdock peered down from above, seeing Amy's struggle to climb a rocky, brushy hillside. He didn't question what was keeping him up in the air. He didn't seem to be flying a chopper or plane nor was he a passenger in an aircraft.

A sudden thought came to him, making him smile.

 _Maybe I've been flyin' so long, I've sprouted wings. Oh, B. A.'s gonna love that._

He grew serious as he drew closer to the ground.

He saw blood streaming from a gash on Amy's forehead and realized she must have hit her head.

From the atmosphere above him heard muffled impatient voices. Even though the words weren't very clear, he managed to pick out the gist of what they were saying.

"How can he be conscious?"

". . . can't give him more . . . don't know how much he's been given . . . "

"Doctor?"

He wanted to tell them to quiet down.

 _I gotta tell Amy t' hold on. 'N' she can't hear me 'bove this noise. 'N' then I gotta find th' guys._

He swooped nearer to Amy and saw her pass out.

 _No, no, no . . ._

He tried to lift her but his arms passed right through her and brought her back to brief consciousness. Fanning her with what he thought was his wings . . . he couldn't be sure this wasn't a hallucination . . . he peered up at the road.

 _If these were real wings, I'd be able t' carry her up there._

With a catch in his throat, he murmured an apology to her and started off to locate the guys.


	16. Chapter 16

Monster

Disclaimer: I do not own The A-Team movie or television series or any of the delightful characters found on The A-Team.

Chapter 16

Murdock whooped with joy as he soared in the air above what he now knew to be the Runyon Canyon Road. Being free from his physical body with all its limitations was . . .

 _. . . way, way, WAY too much fun. I could do this f'rever 'n' never get tired . . ._

He stopped wondering what had changed to allow him the freedom of unrestricted flight. Whatever it was, he was as excited as a kid at Christmas. He wanted to test out all of the new capabilities he seemed to have been given.

 _But first, I gotta fin' th' guys 'n' help 'em get t' Amy . . ._

That thought nagged at his joy like a drill sergeant training new recruits.

Pouting a bit at the urgency of the situation, he forced himself to rise higher so he could see most of the road below. He sucked in a sudden breath as he recognized Amy's car quickly moving away from him.

 _That's gotta be Stein . . . he dumped 'er 'n' now he's gonna 'scape . . . th' guys can't stop t' help Amy 'n' catch up with Stein too . . . 'less I figure out a way t' show th' guys where Amy is 'n' then go stop 'im . . ._

He scanned the north end of the road and picked out the headlights of a second speeding vehicle.

 _At that pace, they ain' gonna see her . . ._

Letting himself hover over the area where Amy was, he spotted a light-colored object on the shoulder of the road. He didn't want to land . . . for one thing, he wasn't certain he knew yet how to make a landing without crashing . . . but he _had_ to find out what it was.

 _'N' crashin' ain' ever stopped me b'fore._

Lowering himself to the pavement, surprising himself by how easy it was, he examined the shoe as it lay on the ground.

 _She must o' left it t' help th' guys find 'er._

He knew it was futile for him to try to pick it up. If he couldn't carry Amy up the slope then he likely couldn't manipulate anything else that had physical substance.

 _Are th' guys gonna see it? If only I could make it float in th' air . . . no, B. A.'d prob'ly run off th' road if he saw that . . .bad idea . . ._

He chewed on the tip of his thumbnail, trying to think what he could do to make the shoe more visible. Amy groaned then and the sound about ripped his heart in two inside his chest.

 _Hang in there, chica . . . I'm thinkin' . . . I'm thinkin' . . ._

Looking at his thumbnail, he noticed it seemed to glow very faintly in the dark.

Then he saw the first stabbing glare of the van's headlights as B. A. negotiated a curve.

Bending, Murdock placed one hand on the shoe and noted how his own glow reflected off the patent leather surfaces.

 _That's it! Help's on the way, muchacha . . ._

Hoping his plan worked, he waited for the van to approach.

As soon as the headlights blinded him, Murdock sucked in a breath and squeezed his eyes shut. He realized he wasn't sure if B. A. would stop in time. He didn't know if the van would hit him . . .

 _. . . that'd hurt . . ._

. . . or if it would pass right through him like he was a . . . he grimaced, suddenly understanding why he might have the abilities he now possessed . . .

 _Wait a minute! Am I a ghost?_

He heard the van tires skid to a stop. His eyelids flew open as he stared wide-eyed directly into one of the van's headlights, not a foot from his face.

He heard the door on the front passenger's side open, followed by two more. Hannibal drew near to where he knelt. The beam from the flashlight the Colonel held spotlighted the shoe.

"Hey there, Colonel. She's down there." Murdock pointed as Face picked up the shoe and turned it over in his hands.

"It's Amy's. I'm sure of it," Face said. None of the three men seemed to notice Murdock as he stood up. He brought his face to within four inches of B. A.'s scowl but got no hostile response.

 _They can't hear me. They can't even SEE me._

Worrying over that thought, the pilot followed, then passed Hannibal as he headed down the slope, calling out Amy's name as he did.

Drifting down to where Amy lay, hidden by the spreading branches of a manzanita shrub, Murdock paused to assess her condition. Once again, he fanned her face with the wings he seemed to have grown.

"Murdock?" Amy murmured. She looked directly at him as Hannibal's flashlight beam illuminated the shrubs around them and moved to the right.

"You can _see_ me?" His breath caught in his throat for a moment. "Ya shouldn't be able t' _see_ me . . . "

That was a new worry. If _he_ was a ghost and she could see him, how close was _she_ to becoming one?

"I can _hear_ you . . . can't see you . . . " she mumbled, her hand gripping a branch of the manzanita shrub. "How . . . "

He sighed in partial relief. So she wasn't _that_ close to death.

"Don' try 'n' figure it out . . . " Murdock saw Hannibal pause a few yards uphill to scrutinize an off-white piece of cloth torn from Amy's blouse. The pilot shook his head impatiently.

 _C'mon, guys . . . she's down here . . ._

Amy's eyelids slid shut and Murdock panicked. "Listen, darlin' . . . I don' wanna hafta do this but th' guys ain' gonna find you if I don't . . . "

Remembering the experiment with the shoe, Murdock carefully lay down beside the reporter, her back against his abdomen, his hand cupping her face. Tucking his wings away to lay like that took some effort. For a moment, he amused himself with the thought of building a huge twig and twine nest in his VA hospital room so he could sleep sitting up . . .

 _. . . like the birdies do . . . 'n' won' Doc Richter be surprised when he sees it . . ._

The reporter broke his wild flight of imagination with a whimper. "You're . . . making me . . . cold . . . " Amy muttered, moving slightly to avoid the touch, causing some loose rock to slide down the hill.

The flashlight beam swung toward them, silhouetting the reporter in its light. Murdock could have crowed with triumph.

 _But roosters don' fly like I do . . ._

With effort he forced his mind back on task. "That's 'xactly what I wanted . . . not th' making ya cold part . . . now I gotta go . . . th' guy're here . . . they found you . . . do ya hear me, darlin'? They found you."

He waited for only a few seconds more as Hannibal yelled for B. A. and came to kneel at Amy's other side.

"Don't go . . . don't go . . . " Amy repeated under her breath, reaching into the air for Murdock. Tears mingled with the dirt and blood on her face and dripped onto the ground.

"We're here, Miss Allen. We're here," the Colonel muttered as he began to scan her for more serious injuries that would prevent them from moving her up the slope.

"I've _gotta_ go, darlin'," the pilot answered with regret heavy in his voice.

His expression grim, Murdock rose into the air and set his sights on the car he knew contained the person who tried and, for all he knew, succeeded in murdering him.


	17. Chapter 17

Monster

Disclaimer: I do not own The A-Team movie or television series or any of the delightful characters found on The A-Team.

Chapter 17

Amy struggled to stay awake. She was still trying to make sense of the breeze she felt in an otherwise quiet night and the conversation she had with Murdock.

 _I couldn't see him. Why couldn't I see him?_

Her eyelids drifted shut. Thinking was too difficult right now.

But Face would not allow her the luxury of sleep.

She felt him patting her cheek. His voice, edged with urgency, nagged at her. "Stay awake, Amy. Stay awake."

"Keep her from going to sleep, Face. She might have a concussion." That was Hannibal. He sounded angry.

 _But not at me. At least I don't think he's mad at me._

There was something she needed to tell them but what it was escaped her.

 _Something to do with Murdock . . ._

"Where's . . . Murdock?" she managed to whisper.

There was no answer for a minute. She heard Face draw in a deep breath.

Hannibal responded to her question. "He's still at the VA hospital, Miss Allen. Isn't he?"

 _Is he? I thought he was with me. I thought . . ._

"He wasn't with Stein." That was Face again but this time his tone was edged with doubt.

 _Stein . . . Stein did something . . ._

Images flashed through her mind. The night nurse who wouldn't listen to her and the orderly who did. Being told Stein was with Murdock. Murdock's door. Screaming patients. Murdock . . .

She felt a wave of nausea bring the contents of her stomach up the back of her throat. Swallowing several times she fought to stay in control.

"Murdock . . . he's hurt . . . Stein . . . he stabbed him . . . "

A dark rumbling growl came from the direction of the driver's seat.

"Step on it, B. A. I _want_ this slimeball. He's not going to escape if we can help it."

She had seldom heard Hannibal sound so threatening.

Certain she had given them all the information she needed to give them, Amy once again tried to sleep.

 _The guys will take care of Stein. He isn't going to hurt anyone anymore._

If it wasn't for Face and his insistence she stay awake . . .

oooooo

Murdock hovered above Amy's car, keeping pace with Stein, thinking through his options. By now, he knew he couldn't take rocks from the roadside and toss them at the windshield to stop Stein. In his ghostly form, he couldn't manipulate physical objects.

 _What CAN I do b'sides fly?_

He could make things glow even if it was with a fairly dim light. He could make things cold if he touched them. He proved that with Amy when he laid down beside her to help the guys find her.

 _So how do I stop him? Yell boo?_

Anyone fully conscious seemed not to hear him. Amy could because she was drifting in and out.

 _Shoot! What good's wings t' fly if ya can't help th' guys take care o' th' bad guys?_

He remembered the soft glow that illuminated Amy's shoe when he touched it.

 _Maybe if I laid down in th' road, it'd make th' road glow 'n' he'd think he was 'bout t' run someone over._

As soon as he thought it, he dismissed it. Stein wouldn't care if he killed one more person. He landed belly-down on the roof of the car and pushed himself forward until he could look down through the windshield at Stein.

He resisted the impulse to cross his eyes and stick out his tongue to see if the orderly would react. He knew Stein wouldn't see him. A pang of self-pity hit him.

 _Nobody can . . . not Amy . . . Hann'bal . . . Faceman . . . B. A. . . . I don' care if I can't fly anymore . . . I don' wanna be a ghost if I lose my friends 'cause they can't see me . . ._

Under his body and where his hands gripped the top of the car the metal glowed.

It glowed. And Murdock got a better idea.

Flying a half mile ahead of the vehicle, he hovered at about windshield height and waited.

 _I'm 'bout t' either b'come th' world's biggest bug splat 'r th' car'll pass right through me._

If he was lucky the impact wouldn't hurt and the windshield would instantly become a solid glow. He hoped it would impair the orderly's vision enough to make him stop.

As Amy's car sped toward him, Murdock held his breath and squeezed his eyes shut.

 _Here goes nothin'!_

He felt a tremendous jolt to his body, one which made him arch his back. It was like electricity passed through him, starting in his chest. He took an involuntary gulp of air and just about started hiccuping.

 _Where'd that come from?_

As soon as the shock to his system subsided, he found he was desperately hanging on to the vehicle's windshield. It didn't make sense that he couldn't pick up things without his hands passing through them yet his body collided with the windshield and stuck.

 _What's goin' on now? Hope I ain' lost th' ability t' fly. I ain' stopped Stein yet . . ._

Moments later, there was a second jolt to his chest that made him open his eyes.

They were no longer moving. The car had come to rest against a rock outcropping, its hood folded like an accordian against Murdock's back. His upper abdomen hurt and he wasn't sure why.

 _How'm I gonna get outta this if I'm solid as B. A.'s muscles? 'N' why'm I feelin' pain? Didn' think I was s'posed t' feel pain if I'm a ghost. I'll hafta ask Billy 'bout that._

He decided he might as well try to free himself. He wasn't doing any good staying where he was. Passing through the crumpled remains of Amy's car as if it wasn't even there, the pilot saw his enemy still inside, pinned by the steering wheel.

 _Like a bug in an insect collection._

Murdock grinned with a mingled bit of satisfaction and relief, the two electrical jolts to his body temporarily forgotten.

 _You ain' goin' nowhere, bud._

Stein moaned as he shifted around, trying unsuccessfully to push the steering wheel away from his chest.

Murdock moved closer. He knew the guys would be there very soon but he didn't know how strong Stein was. He couldn't allow the orderly to leave the vehicle and escape on foot.

If Amy could hear him but not see him maybe Stein could, too.

 _'N' right now, he's a captive audience. He ain' got anythin' better t' do 'til th' guys get here than t' listen._

With that thought, he positioned himself beside the driver's door and started talking.


	18. Chapter 18

Monster

Disclaimer: I do not own The A-Team movie or television series or any of the delightful characters found on The A-Team.

AN: The song Murdock sings is found in Season One, Episode Four, 'A Small and Deadly War.' He sings it to the corrupt SWAT Captain Stark played by Jack Ging. The limerick comes from my Murdock muse. Enjoy!

Chapter 18

Leaning in through the smashed window on the driver's side of Amy's car, Murdock noted the amount of pain Stein was in. The orderly gasped as he squirmed under the steering wheel and then let out a half-scream, half-moan through gritted teeth. He closed his eyes then and panted a few ragged breaths.

Murdock considered what he was thinking of doing. The orderly didn't look as menacing as he had all those times he entered Murdock's room at the VA hospital. Not anymore. It really wouldn't be nice to taunt the man while he was suffering but in Stein's case . . .

"Hey buddy . . . " Murdock grimaced at using the word to address his enemy but he had to be sure the monster could hear him.

 _What'd be th' sense in me talkin' t' him 'n' him not hearin' a word?_

The orderly twisted his head toward the window and opened his eyes. Seeing no one, he let his eyelids close, the side of his face resting against the headrest. "Musta been the wind," he muttered.

Murdock smiled.

 _This's gonna be fun._

"Hey buddy!" he yelled in Stein's ear. Then he blew directly in the orderly's face and grinned when the monster shivered and looked again to see nothing.

"Who . . . ?"

"Who d' you _think_ it is?" Murdock laughed then, making it sound as sinister as he could.

Stein frowned as if trying to place where he had heard the voice before.

The pilot chuckled when the orderly recognized who was speaking. Stein pulled as far away from the window as he was able to, his mouth gaping, his eyes wide and staring.

"Murdock." The single word seemed to take a lot of effort.

"How could it be me? Ya murdered me, r'member?" The pilot let each word sound as if he were realizing for the first time he might be dead.

"But the reporter . . . she let them know . . . " Stein kept his eyes on the place where he thought the voice was coming from.

"Musta been too late." Murdock paused, then whispered close to Stein's ear, "Or yer goin' crazy. Jus' wait. I bet my reporter friend Amy'll be here soon's _she_ dies. We'll _both_ keep ya comp'ny 'til my friends get here."

He didn't like to think of Amy dying. He was pretty sure the guys had found her in time but he wasn't sure. The thought made him want revenge even more against this monster who abused his power over the vulnerable and killed without remorse. He almost didn't hear Stein's question.

"Your friends. . . Are they ghosts, too?"

He toyed with the idea of letting the orderly think they were, then decided against it. "Nah. They're still 'live. 'N' they _really_ don' like folks like you. Maybe you've met 'em? Big black angry mudsucker with fifty pounds o' gold 'round his neck. Guy who'd never have trouble findin' a date on Friday night. Wears 'xpensive clothes. Oh. 'N' their leader. White-haired guy that loves cigars." He could tell by the way the orderly scowled with each description that his team had paid Stein a visit.

"Why're you haunting me? Why don't you go wherever dead people go?" It was obvious to Murdock that the monster was afraid for probably the first time in his life.

"I _tol'_ you. I'm keepin' you company 'til my buddies get here. You mus' be my unfinished bus'ness here on earth."

The orderly squeezed his eyes shut and tried once again to free himself from the steering wheel. After a few seconds he sank back against the seat and groaned.

"That's gotta hurt," Murdock sneered. "Think it hurts as much as a knife in th' guts?"

Stein paled noticeably at those words. "Go away," he muttered.

"No can do, muchacho. Wouldn' want t' leave ya t' die 'lone . . . like ya did t' me . . . 'n' my friend Amy." The pilot paused.

 _I gotta keep this goin'. What can I do now t' keep him squirmin'?_

Limericks. Murdock had practiced rhyming words when B. A. was bleeding out in Bad Rock just to keep the black man alive. He knew if he kept it up, B. A. would summon the strength to live long enough to threaten him. He wasn't sure if he could come up with a limerick to fit the occasion but he could try.

"I got a li'l rhyme for ya. Jus' for your entertainment. See if ya like it." He thought for a moment, then grinned.

"There once was a monster named Stein

His actions got quite out o' line;

Stuck a knife in my guts

'N' now he's gone nuts

What a poor wretched creature is Stein."

"Go . . . away!" the orderly repeated. He was beginning to shiver uncontrollably. Murdock noticed and frantically looked up the road for the familiar black van.

 _He's goin' int' shock. Can't have him die on me._

"Didn' like that one? Well, how 'bout a song?" He was rambling but that was what he did best when under stress. It kept the bad guys wondering. Tapping the orderly's cheek insistently, he made a quick decision.

"Here goes. Now listen carefully 'cause it's one o' my fav'rites.

Did ya ever see a hearse go by

'N' think that someday you'd surely die?

They put ya in a li'l box

'N' cover ya over with dirt 'n' rocks.

All goes well for 'bout a week,

Then yer coffin b'gins t' leak.

Th' worms crawl in; th' worms crawl out,

Th' worms play poker on yer snout.

They eat yer eyes; they eat yer nose . . . "

Headlights swept across the crumpled car, interrupting him.

"So sorry I can't finish th' song. My friends're here 'n' I think they're gonna have somethin' t' say t' you." As soon as he said that, Murdock felt another jolt to his chest.

The scene around him was dimming and darkening. The last thing he saw was Hannibal approaching the vehicle, followed closely by B. A. Somehow he knew the two men weren't going to let Stein die but they would likely not ease the man's pain either. Neither man looked particularly worried about Stein's well-being.

"Hi guys," he said. He tried to move back to let them get to Stein but he was frozen to the spot. All at once, he felt weak and dizzy.

Then Murdock's surroundings turned completely black.


	19. Chapter 19

Monster

Disclaimer: I do not own The A-Team movie or television series or any of the delightful characters found on The A-Team.

Chapter 19

Amy opened her eyes, noticing the van seemed to have stopped.

"What d'you think, Colonel? Think he's alive?" For a moment Amy didn't know who B. A. was asking about: Murdock or Stein.

Because she knew Murdock had been there with her at some point and Stein was responsible in some way for the pain and confusion she was experiencing.

"We'll see." Those two words sounded ominous coming from Hannibal.

 _Can't be Murdock they're talking about._

"Let me check on him." Face's tone suggested more menace than she thought him capable of. She saw the firm set to his jaw and the fury in his eyes.

 _Definitely not Murdock._

"No. You stay with Amy and keep her from falling asleep. _We'll_ check." Hannibal gave the order and Face sighed. The reporter felt a pang of guilt over being so helpless.

 _Poor Face! I know he'd rather be there with the guys than playing nursemaid to me._

In the next moment, Hannibal and B. A. both left the vehicle, slamming the doors.

"Is it Stein?" Amy asked, her voice raspy and broken.

Instead of answering, Face squeezed her hand. "You just focus on staying awake until we can get you to a hospital."

She swallowed once and narrowed her eyes at him. "Making sure Stein gets what he deserves will keep me awake."

Despite his obvious anger, Face chuckled. "Remind me never to get on your bad side, okay?"

"Help me sit up," she pleaded. "I want to see."

Face hesitated. "Uh . . . you're not going to like it." He winced when she dug her fingers into his forearm.

"Help me sit up! Now!"

Extracting his arm from her grip, he rubbed it before assisting her in maneuvering into Murdock's usual seat in the van.

The movement from the floor to the seat made her dizzy but she was determined to see what she was missing.

In the next moment, she groaned.

"Do you need to lay back down?" the con man anxiously asked her, reaching out to steady her if she should faint.

"No! My car! What did that monster _do_ to it?" she muttered, pushing away his hands.

Face shrugged. "It looks like he crashed it." He gave her a tentative smile. "But look on the bright side. At least the crash kept him from escaping."

Amy groaned again.

oooooo

"Looks like you need some help there, pal." Hannibal stood off to the side, watching Stein futilely attempt to get the steering wheel off his chest. He bent close to the orderly and exhaled a cloud of cigar smoke into his face. "You just might have a few cracked ribs from that."

Stein coughed, tensing and groaning as he did.

"What d' you wanna do with him, Colonel?" B. A. crossed his arms, making a display of his muscles, and waited for his leader's order.

"Ever since Nam we made a pact not to kill unless it was absolutely necessary." Hannibal addressed his comments more to Stein than to B. A. He smoked his cigar for a few seconds, seemingly coming to a decision about something.

Finally he added, "We've been able to keep that promise for over ten years, no thanks to scumballs like you." He paused, glancing at B. A. "My friend here would love to toss you over the edge of this ridge like you did to our reporter friend Miss Allen. But that would break our perfect record because believe me, he would do a few extremely unpleasant things before he disposed of you like the trash you are. We have friends in the VA hospital and we don't like what you did to them."

"Like Murdock?" the orderly sneered. "Didn't think he _had_ any friends."

Hannibal leaned in through the window to take a closer look at the steering column. "Think you could move this, Sergeant, and make our friend here a little more uncomfortable?"

"Don't look too hard ta do," the black man muttered, uncrossing his arms and cracking his knuckles. "Just let me in there."

The Colonel had Stein's full attention now. He stopped squirming and dared a glance at B. A.

Standing upright again, Hannibal motioned with one hand for B. A. to wait. "We know Murdock and he _is_ our friend but he isn't the only one you've been abusing, _is_ he?"

"What are you gonna do to me?" Stein managed to sputter.

"Make sure the police find you and get you medical attention. I imagine you won't be leaving the hospital very soon. And our friend is willing to press charges against you. Kidnapping, possession of a stolen vehicle and attempted murder sound like a good start. And let's not forget what you've been doing at the VA hospital. You'll face more charges after they investigate that."

"Murdock stabbed _himself_!" Stein either was unaware of the angry rumble coming from B. A.'s chest or was too intent on denying his crime to listen. "I tried to stop him but he was too fast. If he told you otherwise . . . " Stein's voice trailed off as he noticed B. A. stalking toward the crumpled car, his hands made into fists, a fierce scowl on his face.

"Sergeant!" Hannibal warned.

B. A. froze in place, giving the orderly a withering stare.

"Go in the other side of Miss Allen's car and get the walkie talkie. We shouldn't leave that behind. Then keep an eye on our friend . . . without hurting him _too_ badly . . . " the Colonel cautioned as the Sergeant began to move, growling as he did, " . . . while I send in an anonymous tip about this accident."

As he walked back to the van, he added over his shoulder, "I'm sure the cops will be _very_ interested in why you have Miss Allen's car to begin with. And especially when she gets to the emergency room to get her injuries checked out and tells them what happened."

Hannibal ignored the sounds of a fist connecting with bone and the corresponding grunts of pain. He opened the front passenger door of the van and glanced in at Face and Amy.

The reporter displayed a mixture of anger and satisfaction in her expression as she watched B. A. work Stein over. "Small payment for what he did to Murdock. And to my car. I wonder what made him run into those rocks. He could have been long gone by now."

"Glad to see you feeling better, Miss Allen." The Colonel smiled and reached for the van's phone. In moments he had an emergency operator on the line and switched to the frantic scratchy voice of an elderly man.

"Oh thank God I got someone! Thank God!" He listened for a minute, then answered the voice on the other end. "I was walking my dog along Runyon Canyon Road and came across an accident . . . no, I really don't know how badly anyone is hurt . . . it looks pretty bad . . . no, just one car involved . . . you'll get someone here right away? Please hurry! I'm sure the driver has to be trapped in there . . . "

He hung up then and turned to Face and Amy, a glint of humor in his eyes and a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. "And now, I think it's high time we got you to the hospital."

"And then we'll check on Murdock?" Face's strained voice betrayed his worry over his friend.

"Then we'll find a way to check on Murdock," Hannibal promised. Stepping down from his seat for a moment, he called to B. A. and gestured for him to come back to the van.

With one final fist to the orderly's mouth, B. A. left him alone to await the arrival of the police and ambulance. Without a word, he handed the walkie talkie over to Hannibal and started the van's engine. Covered by the darkness, the closest thing to a smile appeared on the big man's face as they slowly left the scene.


	20. Chapter 20

Monster

Disclaimer: I do not own The A-Team movie or television series or any of the delightful characters found on The A-Team.

Chapter 20

Murdock woke, gasping for breath.

Something obstructed both his nostrils and for a panicked moment he thought he was back in the POW camp being tortured. His chest hurt like he had taken a bad beating and he was certain any moment the interrogators would begin to stuff a dirty rag down his throat to cut off all his air and bring him to the brink of death, then revive him again. Like they'd done a few times in the past.

 _Well, I ain' gonna give 'em th' pleasure o' knowin' they got me scared._

He decided to keep his eyes shut until he could get his bearings or was forced to open them by whatever the interrogators did to him.

Slowly he realized other things were going on around him that were unfamiliar sounds in the interrogator's hut. Air hissed close by his face and he found an ample supply of it coming into his nose. Beeping from a machine . . . an antiseptic smell . . . a cool hand taking his pulse . . .

 _Wait a minute! This don' even smell like th' POW camp. Smells more like . . ._

He allowed his eyelids to part just a little to see his surroundings. He couldn't make sense to anything until a white-haired blurry face came close to his. The man had a huge smile.

"Welcome back to the land of the living, Captain."

 _That's Hann'bal._

The effort to open his eyes even a little had cost him. With a soft grunt of thankfulness that his nightmare wasn't real, he allowed himself the luxury of letting himself drift back to sleep. If Hannibal was there and he was smiling, the others had to be there, too.

oooooo

The next time he woke, this time from a sleep that involved a Huey, Woody Woodpecker as his co-pilot and the Hollywood Hills neighborhood, the room was dimly lit. The last thing he remembered about his dream was the manic bird's laugh as they skimmed the treetops.

As much as he wanted to go back to sleep and find out what kind of pilot Woody really was, he was equally curious about where he was.

It wasn't his room at the VA.

Air hissed into his nostrils from a cannula. When he moved his arm, he sensed a tube taped into place along his right arm. He realized it must be an IV. Soft mechanical beeping kept time with his heartbeat.

And he felt like Keith Moon of The Who had just played an entire concert using his chest as his drum set and his head as the bass drum.

Opening his eyes, he scanned the room, moving his head as little as possible. Just as he thought, he was in some kind of hospital room.

 _What for this time?_

Someone slept in a chair to his left, about a yard from the bed. The pilot's mouth was so dry, he couldn't do any more than hoarsely croak out his name.

"Face?"

The con man jerked awake, blinked twice and instantly reached out a hand to his friend. "Hey there, buddy." A frown creased his features. "How are you feeling?"

Murdock shook his head and lifted a dead-weight arm to point at his mouth. He regretted moving his head at all a second later when Keith started pounding the bass drum that was his head even harder. His arm dropped back to his side like it had a mind of its own.

"Only ice chips for now. You were in surgery about four hours ago." The con man grasped a glass from the bedside table and scooped out a half-spoonful.

The pilot gratefully accepted it, swishing the chips around in his mouth until most of them had dissolved, and then swallowed.

"Surg'ry? 'Splains a lot . . . " he slurred. His mind was buzzing, drum beats punctuated with a few vivid memories . . . few of which explained what had happened to him.

 _But it must o' been a mission . . . yeah. That's it . . ._

"Did we . . . get 'er done?" he mumbled, squeezing his eyes shut, then opening them again, resisting the temptation to drift off.

"Get what . . . " Face paused for a second. "Oh. Yeah, we got Stein. He's in a hospital emergency room in L. A. The police have a guard on him so he doesn't escape again. I don't know how much they'll be able to do with his broken nose and jaw. B. A. was only too happy to make sure Stein knew our feelings about what he did to you."

"What he did to me . . . "

Murdock let his gaze wander around the room as he searched his memory. He remembered Stein and what he looked like, how much he resembled Frankenstein's monster. He remembered being anxious whenever the orderly was on duty.

 _Why can't I r'member more?_

Slowly it came to him like brief flashes of images across a television screen when he changed channels. Nothing settled in his mind for long.

He guessed it was something bad. His coping mechanism was to bury memories deep and forget they were there. He guessed he was being given some kind of painkiller through the IV . . . maybe morphine or fentanyl . . . that he knew from past experience made his confusion even worse.

"Stein . . . " One vision stayed put long enough for him to identify it. Willing his leaden left arm to move, he tugged at the sheet and blanket covering his chest. He had to know if the memory was real or hallucination.

Face hurriedly replaced the glass on the bedside stand and gripped Murdock's forearm, gently but firmly pinning it at his side. "You don't need to look. They managed to tie off the bleeders. You're doing fine. You'll _be_ fine."

Murdock could tell there was more behind that statement than the con man was going to say.

He switched to a new topic. "Where . . . ?"

"We couldn't leave you at the VA hospital. Lynch was going to grill you as soon as you woke and you were in no condition for him to do that . . . " Face cleared his throat and smiled. "Let's just say that when he and his men left to check out that anonymous tip about us being sighted around Stein's neighborhood, you were pretty much left alone. Hannibal walked right into the VA with a general's uniform on and told the MP left to guard you that you had to be moved to a safe location. Orders from higher up. After all, someone tried to kill you . . . "

Murdock was surprised to see his friend's eyes become suspiciously glassy like there were tears on the surface welling up. He blinked and the mistiness in Face's eyes had vanished, replaced by a concerned frown.

"I'm just glad you're back with us." The con man patted Murdock on the shoulder.

As he fought to stay awake for a few more minutes to try to get more of the story, the pilot murmured, "I don' think I was ever gone. Was I?"

His friend didn't answer. He looked at Murdock with such a serious expression, the patient felt a little uncomfortable.

 _I must o' been close, real close . . . but I don' r'member . . ._

"I'm feelin' . . . real tired . . . think I'll take a nap . . . " he mumbled, letting his eyelids slide shut.

"You do that, buddy. One of us will be here when you wake up again."


	21. Chapter 21

Monster

Disclaimer: I do not own The A-Team movie or television series or any of the delightful characters found on The A-Team.

Chapter 21

"But I _want_ to see him." There was a pause during which the pilot thought he heard Hannibal saying something in a commanding tone.

"I'm _fine_. I don't _need_ to rest. I _told_ you."

He heard the door to his room open. Someone shifted in the chair beside him and a deep rumbling, "He ain't awake, li'l sister" alerted him to who the person was.

"I am now . . . " Murdock muttered, slowly letting his eyes adjust to the room light as he opened them.

Hannibal shrugged his shoulders, a half amused, half stern expression on his face.

"Your choice, Miss Allen. But don't stay too long. He needs his rest." Finding no way to get Amy to comply with his orders, he motioned to B. A. to allow her to have his seat.

The Sergeant gave her a scrutinizing look before getting up. "You sure you'll be okay? The doctor said . . . "

Amy gave him an impatient nod. "I'll be fine."

"We'll be just outside. Call if you need anything," the Colonel told her. He gave both of them one more scrutinizing look before leading the other man through the door and shutting it.

The reporter swayed a little as she walked to the vacated chair and sat down. Closing her eyes, she leaned over her knees for a few seconds. "Yeah, I'll do that," she muttered, turning pale.

 _She don' look too good._

"Hey." Murdock noted the bandage over her forehead and a few cuts and one egg-sized bruise, black and painful-looking, on her cheek. Frowning, he tried to get her attention again. "Hey, Amy. You gonna be alright?"

As if not wanting him to see her weakness, she took a deep breath and sat up again. She didn't look much better but she smiled at him anyway.

"I'm fine. I needed to know _you_ were alright," she murmured, taking his hand in hers and gazing at him.

 _Nice try but I think I can rec'nize a concussion when I see one._

"Why's ever'one so worried 'bout li'l ol' me? Looks like they should be worried 'bout _you_." He looked at her more carefully. Her eyes seemed a little out of focus and for a moment he thought maybe she should have the bed instead of him.

"You almost died. They told us your heart stopped a couple of times during surgery." She frowned at his surprised stare. "No one told you?"

He shook his head and was glad that Keith Moon had found a different bass drum to pound. Wanting to get the focus off himself, he changed the subject. "What happened to _you?_ "

"Stein tossed me down a hill. He tried to kill _both_ of us. Don't you remember?"

Uncomfortable with what she said, Murdock focused on what Stein had done to her. "How'd he get you?"

The cheek that wasn't covered by the bruise turned a faint pink. "The night nurse told me Stein was in your room. When they finally let me in, he had already gone. He'd stabbed you with a table knife and left you to die. When I saw you laying there, all of that blood . . . " Her voice broke.

He interrupted her, trying to lighten the atmosphere. "Hope that knife didn' have peanut butter on it b'fore he did that. 'Less he had jelly t' go with it."

"That isn't funny, Murdock!" She was angry he wasn't taking Stein's attempt to kill him more seriously.

 _But if I did, I don' know if I could handle th' mem'ry . . ._

Amy continued, "I wanted to stay with you so you had someone there after you got out of surgery . . . " She gulped, remembering what happened next. "I knew the guys weren't at the hospital yet so they probably didn't see him leave. I hurried out to my car to follow him . . . "

" . . . 'n' Stein waylaid ya." Murdock's eyes darkened with fury. "He hit ya?" he asked, reaching out to touch the bruise on her cheek.

Flinching away, she answered. "No. He stuck a needle in me and knocked me out with something. I don't know what. The next thing I remembered I was being dragged out of my car."

"'N' then he pushed ya down that hill?" Something nudged his memory, something about where Amy was dumped, but he couldn't get the memory to become clearer. All he could remember of his dreams was flying a Huey with Woody Woodpecker as his co-pilot . . .

 _. . . 'n' that's jus' nuts._

"Yeah." She seemed to be thinking about something else as she gazed at him.

After a minute of her staring at him, he asked, "What? You're lookin' at me like I did somethin' weird."

Shaking her head, she laughed nervously and looked down at her hands. "You'll think I've gone crazy."

"No . . . nope . . . I know crazy 'n' you don' even come close. Sooooo . . . what's up?" He wasn't sure he wanted to hear, but then again . . .

"When I was laying on that hillside, hurt and wondering if anyone would come to find me before . . . " she gave him a quick glance " . . . before I died, I could have sworn I heard you talking to me. Trying to keep me awake."

For a moment he searched his memory but couldn't confirm that what she suggested had actually happened.

 _I mean, it ain' somethin' I'd forget, is it? 'N' it'd mean I'd died, wouldn' it?_

He gave her a weak smile. "Maybe it was Billy?"

"So your dog talks now? No, it was your voice." For a few seconds longer she looked at him, then shrugged. "Maybe I was more out of it than I realized. Anyway, it was your voice that kept me awake and waiting for the guys to find me. So I'm thankful."

Rising to her feet, a little unsteady, she leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. "You get well. I have to go now. Hannibal is going to bring me to another emergency room to get checked out . . . again."

When Murdock raised his eyebrows, she explained. "This hospital was one a movie set doctor recommended. Someone Hannibal worked with and trusts. He cleared the way so there would be no questions but if I filed a report with the police against Stein from here, Lynch might find you. Hannibal figures the VA hospital will find out where you are soon enough and transfer you back."

He tensed, images of Stein and his abuse flashing through his mind.

Seeing his frown, she added, "Stein won't be walking around free when I get done telling the cops what he's been up to. You'll be safe when you go back to the hospital. In the meantime, the guys get to keep you company while you're on the mend."

She smiled down at him and stroked his hand. "Just don't be too hard on B. A. He would have killed Stein for what he did to you and me if Hannibal hadn't stopped him."

"Yes, ma'am. I'll be good." Murdock smirked, already thinking about new ways to pass the time now that he was confined to bed for a few days.

He watched Amy as she walked to the door and opened it. He worried about her concussion. She wobbled a little on her feet.

 _But Hann'bal'll make sure she gets th' care she needs._

Closing his eyes with that relieved thought, he sank back into sleep within seconds, not even aware that Face came to sit by his bedside.


	22. Chapter 22

Monster

Disclaimer: I do not own The A-Team movie or television series or any of the delightful characters found on The A-Team.

AN: This chapter is for Tardis11 with a big thanks to you and everyone else for your comments. You wondered how Murdock would entertain himself and drive B. A. crazy. Here it is. It's a shorter chapter but the next two are going to be longer and are already partially finished. I should get the next up by the weekend. From what I've read, B. A.'s haircut is not a Mohawk but is similar to what the Mandinka tribe would have had.

Chapter 22

The hospital room was dimly lit when B. A. woke up to Murdock gasping for breath. He straightened in his chair, listening for the pilot to return to sleep, hoping he would without intervention this time.

A few seconds later the patient whined, "Check under th' bed one more time, Big Guy. Please? Pretty please?"

 _Not again!_

For what seemed to B. A. the hundredth time since he took over sitting with Murdock, the pilot woke from a restless sleep and begged him to look for monsters.

"Ain' no such thing as monsters, fool! I told ya that last time ya asked me ta look. Don't ya remember?" B. A. scowled at the patient and crossed his arms.

 _I gotta remember it ain' the fool's fault after what Stein did ta him. Why'd Hannibal hafta give me the night shift anyway?_

"Somethin's been chokin' me in my sleep 'n' wakin' me up. 'N' you've been fallin' 'sleep so _anythin'_ could o' snuck in here 'n' hid there 'n' you wouldn' even know it." Murdock gave the Sergeant one more imploring look. When B. A. didn't move, he sighed heavily. Slowly and painfully rolling over partially on his stomach, he gripped the edge of the mattress with both hands and began to lower his head to look under the bed.

"Hey fool! What ya doin'? You wanna tear those stitches out?" B. A. lumbered to his feet and, taking both shoulders, pushed Murdock onto his back again. "Now stay put."

"I gotta know. I know it ain' Stein but maybe he's got clones that wanna kill me. I ain' gonna go back t' sleep 'less I know for sure," the pilot insisted, clutching the sheet and blanket up to just under his chin. "Please, Big Guy?"

The Sergeant took a good look at his team mate.

 _He ain' just tryin' ta get under my skin. He's scared._

"Why ain' Billy protectin' you?" He braced himself for Murdock's answer, willing himself not to snap at the injured pilot.

"Billy ain' stupid. He's up here on th' bed with me." The pilot patted air on his right side, then with his arm scooped the invisible dog closer to himself. B. A. shook his head and growled softly.

 _Figures._

"See? He knows somethin's there. He's growlin' 'long with you."

Grumbling, B. A. bent to check the floor under the bed. He scowled up at the patient. "Ain' nothin' there. Now go back ta sleep."

 _An' there won't be nothin' there the next time ya ask me either._

"Maybe if you'd tell me a story . . . somethin' with a happy endin'. Maybe my dreams won' be nightmares then."

"I ain' your mama . . . " B. A. said it before he remembered Murdock didn't have a mother for most of his childhood years. To soften his statement, he added, " . . . An' I ain' a storyteller."

"I ain' askin' you for a fairy tale with princesses 'r dragons either . . . " Murdock sighed. "But if ya won' do it, ya won' do it."

"I didn't say I wouldn't do it. Shut up with your jibber-jabber an' let me think." The Sergeant settled back in the chair and stared at Murdock.

 _What kinda story does he want anyway? An' can it really keep him from havin' any more nightmares?_

The pilot got impatient when it seemed the black man wasn't going to begin the story. "You said . . . "

"I'm thinking!" B. A. tried to remember some of the stories his Momma read to him before he got too old for such things.

To stall, he stood up and adjusted the call light so it was more within Murdock's reach. Then he sat back down and started to talk.

"There was this Mandinka warrior."

The pilot interrupted him. "All th' good stories I ever heard started with 'Once upon a time.' 'N' what's a Mandinka?"

"Tribe in Africa, man. Are ya gonna keep interruptin' or do I stop right now?" B. A. waited for a second while Murdock pretended to zip his mouth closed and throw away the key.

"Okay. Once upon a time, there was this Mandinka warrior. He was strong. An' there was this dragon. Huge thing. Dragon used ta hurt the folks in the village. Hurt 'em bad." He noted Murdock's grimace and hurried on. "An' one day the warrior had enough. Tracked the dragon to a mountainside an' beat 'im so bad 'round the head, the dragon begged for mercy."

Murdock's eyelids were drooping but he mustered enough energy to ask, "'N' what happened t' th' dragon? Did th' warrior kill 'im?"

B. A. shook his head. "Naw. Warror's code said no killin' 'less it couldn't be done otherwise. He handed the dragon over ta the ones that keep dragons locked up. An' the dragon never got out ta hurt the village ever again."

The pilot yawned and mumbled sleepily, "See . . . tol' ya you could tell a good story . . . that warrior . . . he was a hero . . . " He yawned again. "Sounds a lot like you, Big Guy . . . "

In the next few seconds, he drifted to sleep while B. A. let a small smile play across his face. "Have _good_ dreams now . . . Murdock." He arranged a blanket from the van over himself and soon he too was asleep.


	23. Chapter 23

Monster

Disclaimer: I do not own The A-Team movie or television series or any of the delightful characters found on The A-Team.

AN: _The Right Stuff,_ which appeared on the big screen in February 1984, was about the fledgling space program and the Mercury 7 astronauts. Murdock would probably like anything to do with flight, even into outer space, and that is why I chose that movie to be on his mind. The movie had a limited release toward the end of October 1983.

Chapter 23

Both patient and watcher were still asleep when Face burst through the door. Light had just begun to peep in around the window shades in the room.

B. A. had his gun trained on the con man within a second. Murdock continued to slumber, the smudges under his eyes indicating how much he had struggled with his nightmares.

"Hannibal says he caught word from his doctor friend that the VA hospital located Murdock and they're sending an ambulance to transport him back." Face approached the bed only to hear B. A. growl softly in warning.

"He's had a rough night. It's only the last couple hours he's settled in. Do ya really want ta wake him up?" The Sergeant was already putting away his weapon and getting to his feet. "Man, I don't know why they don't just leave the fool here ta heal up for a while."

The con man stared down at his best friend, unsure about waking him to let him know the team had to leave. His eyes darkened with anger. "Lynch probably had something to do with it. He would like nothing better than to get Murdock back there to the hospital so he can grill him for information," he muttered, reaching down to gently touch the pilot's shoulder. His friend murmured something in his sleep, his head turning slightly toward Face's hand.

There was a knock on the door before it opened. Hannibal stepped inside after taking a look up and down the hall outside the room. "We have less than a half hour to get out of here." He stopped and motioned with his head toward the patient. "How's he doing, B. A.?"

"He's seen better nights." B. A. was at Murdock's other side, his gaze softer than usual as he stared down at the sleeping man.

"Well, what do you think he'd want? We wake him up to tell him or the orderlies wake him when they arrive and we're gone?" Face had withdrawn his hand and now looked to Hannibal for a decision.

"Wake him up," the Colonel snapped, his expression clearly showing his feelings about the imminent transfer.

The con man nodded and lightly shook Murdock's shoulder. "Wake up, buddy."

With a light sigh, the pilot tried to move away from the hand that had disturbed his sleep.

"Come on, fool. Got something important ta tell ya." B. A.'s urgent tone had the desired effect. The pilot halfway opened his eyes, then opened them all the way and stared up at the three men surrounding his bed.

"Captain, how are you feeling?" The Colonel noted the pallid skin and dark circles under his man's eyes and cursed softly under his breath.

"Better 'n I did b'fore surg'ry but not good 'nough t' run one o' your obstacle courses, Colonel." Murdock put one hand over the approximate area of his abdomen where the surgeon had operated. He raised an eyebrow at the somber mood in the room. "What's up?"

"Somehow the VA hospital found out where you are. They're sending over an ambulance to transfer you back there. They should be here in the next thirty minutes."

Face put a reassuring hand on Murdock's left shoulder and B. A. did the same on his right.

A shadow passed over the pilot's face briefly before he gave them a weak smile. "Aw, see? Doc Richter misses me a'ready. Wonder what they got planned for supper."

"It ain' even breakfast time, fool." The black man's voice didn't have any of the toughness behind it.

"How long've I been here?" Murdock searched each man's face as he absently stroked the head of the invisible dog beside him.

"Not long enough for my liking," Hannibal answered. "Do you think you can hold your own against Lynch? He's going to likely be questioning you about all of this."

A slightly manic grin appeared across the pilot's face. "I'll sic Billy on 'im . . . 'r I can start talkin' 'bout ammonia . . . he don' wanna be 'round when I do that . . . " He noticed his team mates' questioning expressions and hurried to explain. "Jus' somethin' I do t' avoid conversations I'd rather not have." He chuckled softly at the thought and then groaned.

Gently rubbing the abdominal wound through the blankets he reaffirmed, "Don' worry 'bout me. I know how t' handle Lynch now that I'm healed up a li'l."

"Why can't we take 'im with us?" B. A. muttered to Hannibal.

Murdock brushed away his concern with one wave of his hand. "I gotta face Lynch some time. 'N' I'd jus' slow y'all down. B'sides, I wanna make sure they got rid o' all th' bloodstains in my room." He grabbed B. A. by the gold chains around his neck and drew him closer. "Do you know how hard it is t' get blood outta blankets 'n' sheets? Not t' mention th' tile on the floor. Seeps down through the cracks."

"Don't touch the gold," B. A. growled, prompting Murdock to smile weakly and release him.

"Got it," the pilot murmured. "Not touchin' it, Big Guy." Looking at each of his team mates, he added, "You guys'd better take off now b'fore they get here. Lynch might be with 'em."

Hannibal was the first to leave. As he paused at the door, he fixed the pilot with a serious look. "We'll be in touch, Captain. Somehow, some way, we'll be in touch."

"I know that, Colonel," Murdock replied, all of the smiles and amusement gone from his expression.

"Lynch will get bored one of these days and stop prowling around the VA and when he does, I'll be there to scam you out of there. Maybe we'll go see a movie." The con man patted his friend on the shoulder, his tone suggesting how reluctant he was to have to leave.

"Think _The Right Stuff_ 'll still be playin' somewhere? Never thought 'bout bein' an astronaut myself but the movie sounds cool." Murdock tried sitting up a little more, any pain from the recent surgery temporarily forgotten.

"I'll see what I can do. Maybe I can find us a private showing and get a couple of dates for you and me. How's that?"

Murdock could see his friend already considering methods to make sure he delivered on his promise. With a last sad smile, Face followed Hannibal out the door.

B. A. waited until the door closed before speaking. "You think you're gonna be okay?" He didn't look at the pilot as he asked, just stared at the door.

"I guess." Murdock didn't feel or sound very confident. Truth be told, he wished he could go with the guys and avoid going back to the VA hospital until he was completely healed. But in his mind, he knew that Lynch would suspect he might be with his team. That would put him hot on their trail.

No, it was better this way, even if the nightmares about Stein returned.

"Meant what I said. You could come with us for a while." B. A. didn't say more. He didn't need to.

Murdock shook his head no. "You'd better get out there b'fore Hann'bal has Faceman pick the locks t' get into th' van." The pilot took to examining his fingernails closely. It was one thing to see how much it bothered both Hannibal and Face to leave him. It was quite another to see B. A., the angry mudsucker, subtly express those same feelings.

"You have any nightmares, you remember that story 'bout the Mandinka warrior an' the dragon. Don't wanna come to get you outta there an' find out they had ta put ya in a padded room an' a straight jacket." The Sergeant strode purposefully to the door, not wanting to see the worry on his friend's face.

"I'll do that."

"Good," B. A. said. Opening the door, he let himself out without another glance in the pilot's direction.

Then Murdock was all alone in the room. For a moment, he felt panic rise up in the pit of his stomach. He wished he wouldn't have insisted on staying behind. He felt . . .

. . . abandoned. With great effort, he reminded himself of all three men's promises to come to get him when Lynch stopped running surveillance on his hospital room.

 _They'll be back. This's for th' better. All I gotta do is wait . . ._

To pass the time before the ambulance crew arrived, he put his imagination to work, planning all sorts of ways to drive Lynch and his MPs crazy. And as he did, the smile returned to his face.


	24. Chapter 24

Monster

Disclaimer: I do not own The A-Team movie or television series or any of the delightful characters found on The A-Team.

Chapter 24

Face frowned over at Hannibal as the older man contentedly read the latest edition of the _LA Courier_. It had been five days since the VA ambulance came for Murdock at the civilian hospital.

"I don't know how you can be so calm right now." He refused the section of the paper the Colonel absently offered him. Crossing his arms over his chest, he added, "It didn't take Lynch very long to find out where Murdock was. And now he's back in his room at the VA and we have no means of visiting him."

"Faceman's right. Fool's all alone in there." B. A. laid the walkie talkie on the table in front of him, the homing device he placed in it successfully removed.

"And you can bet Lynch will be visiting every day to try to catch Murdock up in some kind of verbal slip that'll tell him he knows where we are." The con man got to his feet and impatiently glared into his half-filled coffee cup.

Hannibal lowered his paper to look at each of his men in turn. "For one thing, Murdock _doesn't_ know for sure where we are. He could have come with us but he _chose_ to go back to the VA. For another thing, we _do_ have someone with the clearance to be able to see Murdock so if we need to give him a message . . . "

"After what Stein almost did to her, you can't mean you'd put Amy in that kind of danger again?" Face set the cup in his hand on the coffee table and began pacing.

"Amy approached _me_ and voluntarily _offered_ to continue visiting Murdock. Stein's receiving his medical treatment in jail until he's well enough to stand trial. And I doubt Lynch would be stupid enough to place another person like Stein on the psychiatric ward." Hannibal glanced at his paper with regret and carefully placed it on the floor beside his chair.

"So you think Stein was a Lynch plant? Oh, that's great! That's really great!" Face took to unconsciously sweeping his hand over his hair as he walked back and forth.

B. A. scowled. "If he was, fool nearly died 'cause of Lynch's plant."

Hannibal nodded his agreement. "I know that. I'm not sure Stein _was_ placed by Lynch. If he was I don't think Lynch knew how far Stein was going to take the level of abuse. He isn't the brightest bulb in the pack but I think if he tries this again, Lynch'll find someone whose history is a lot less checkered."

"I hope you're right, Colonel." Face took up his cup and walked to the kitchen. At the door, he paused and looked at his CO. "So we lay low for a little while until things calm down?" He seemed unsure he wanted to know the answer.

The older man nodded and added with a smirk, "It may mean you'll have to stop dating Miss October for a while."

"An' her sister Miss July," B. A. said, his expression unreadable.

"But . . . what about Sunday night? I had plans!" The con man looked so desperate Hannibal tried to keep any amusement from showing on his face.

"You're welcome to join B. A. and me Sunday. The Rams are playing the Bears."

B. A. snorted. "An' the Bears're gonna win."

"I'm not so sure. For a rookie, Dickerson's having one hell of a year so far. With Ferragamo's arm and Dickerson's rushing stats . . . " The Colonel purposely ignored the fuming con man and directed his remarks to the Sergeant who, as he predicted, took the bait.

"The Bear's defense's gonna get better. An' McMahon's new yet. Only one pro season under his belt. If he finds Payton with some o' his passes, they'll make magic. It'll come together," the Sergeant argued, crossing his arms defensively.

"Come on, B. A.! They lost _seven_ of their first _ten_ games! They lost to the Falcons _and_ the Colts! How is that getting better?" Hannibal teased, noting the glare Face gave each of them in turn.

"Football! Is that all the entertainment you two can think of?" Face grimaced as he finished off his cold coffee.

"What kind of entertainment did _you_ have in mind?" The Colonel tried to keep an innocent expression on his face but the furious look his Lieutenant was giving him made him smirk even more.

B. A., looking from one man to the other, realized he had been unaware of what the older man had been doing. "I got work to do on my ride," he mumbled. With a final snort, he tramped off to the garage.

Once he had gone, Hannibal picked up his paper as if nothing happened. As he read, he spoke. "We can't stop you if you want to fulfill your commitment to the young lady. You know that."

Face looked down into his empty cup and paused for a moment, weighing his options. "I guess I _could_ take her to the beach house and order takeout." Warming up to the idea, he added enthusiastically, "I can see it now. Supper on the deck under a moonlit sky . . . the waves lapping quietly on the beach . . . walking barefoot with her in the sand afterwards . . . "

Hannibal interrupted. "Just be careful, okay? We can't be sure Lynch won't still be looking other places than the VA hospital for us."

The Lieutenant flashed Hannibal a dazzling smile. "I'm _always_ careful."

The older man shook his head and continued reading his paper.

"Well, I am, aren't I?"

oooooo

Colonel Lynch hesitated at the lunatic Captain's door. His mind strayed back to the first time he had met the man. He remembered thinking at that time that if Captain H. M. Murdock was faking his insanity, it was a damn good act.

He even had the nurses convinced. The one who escorted Lynch to the door that first time and unlocked it for him warned him against mentioning the word 'ammonia.' He didn't recall how the word came up but it did. He knew _he_ didn't say it.

But the resulting tirade was something he would never forget.

There had been other times just as frustrating and unproductive.

 _Like the time he dove under his bed and reached for my pants leg to pull me to safety, too. All because someone dropped a tray outside the door and he thought it was Charlie sneaking up on us. Or the time he kept asking me to bring him garlic on my next visit to ward off the vampires who took his blood once a week._

Lynch sneaked a peek into the room via the observation window. Murdock lay on his bed, his eyes closed, seeming to be asleep. If not for the smile and the sound of the pilot loudly humming a song Lynch didn't recognize, he would think the man _was_ asleep.

Several days' worth of stubble on Murdock's cheeks and chin indicated to Lynch that he had not shaved for a while. And the man was even thinner than he remembered from the last time he had interrogated him. For a moment the Colonel reconsidered questioning the patient so soon after his surgery.

 _But it's been almost a week! This time there will be no mention of ammonia. He isn't going to skirt around me that easily again._

Especially since Lynch was increasingly convinced that the veteran Nam chopper pilot had recently been under the temporary protection of his outlaw teammates.

 _What else can explain the lack of any papers related to transferring Murdock to a safer hospital? And no one seems to be able to figure out who the general was who ordered the transfer. Very suspicious._

"At least this time you won't be quite as active as that first time," he muttered under his breath, then glanced up and down the hallway to see if anyone noticed him talking to himself.

Bracing himself, he knocked on the door and waited for a response.

"Omecay onway inway utbay eavelay ouryay igspay atway ethay oorday!" It was clearly Murdock's voice because the humming had stopped . . .

 _. . . but what the hell is he saying?_

"Go on in, Colonel," a passing orderly suggested. A pained look appeared on the man's face as he explained. "I'm afraid Captain Murdock has decided not to use the English language for a while. I'm not sure why. Maybe Doctor Richter can tell you."

Lynch glared at the door for a moment, trying to decide if his visit would be worthwhile or not.

Then he went in, stopping midway between the door and the bed.

The pilot grinned up at him, his hands cupped together and between his head and the pillow.

"Rất vui khi gặp anh, đại tá."

"Captain Murdock." The would-be interrogator nodded his head in greeting, trying not to seem surprised. "How are you feeling?"

Murdock got a very solemn look on his face. "Ich habe in den Bauch niedergestochen. Wie denken Sie, dass ich mich fühle?"

Lynch felt the hot flush creep from his neck to his cheeks as he stared at the man relaxing so comfortably on his bed.

"I know you know how to speak English, Captain." He wasn't surprised at the well-executed bemused look that appeared on his tormentor's face.

"Mais que voulez-vous dire, mon cher Colonel?"

 _And what the hell language is that? French?_

He was quickly losing his patience. Eyeing the door, he considered his options.

 _Do I start pressing him for information about his team? Or ask for a multilingual translator? Or just walk away and come back later?_

He didn't notice Murdock carefully and painfully sit up on the edge of the bed. When the bed frame squeaked, he glanced at the pilot.

Murdock's expression was one of horror and he was staring down at the floor. The patient's mood had seemed to change suddenly, like the first bolt of lightning preceding a storm.

As Lynch watched, the pilot quickly drew his legs up, bending them and encircling them with his arms.

 _He doesn't seem to know I'm here anymore._

"Überall blut . . . máu ở khắp nơi . . . Làm bạn ngửi thấy không? . . . Ils ont utilisé _l'ammoniac_ . . . " Murdock was getting louder and more frantic.

Lynch might not have known what the patient was raving about if not for the last word. He had a pretty good idea what was happening then.

Two sets of footsteps rapidly approached the room accompanied with a few terse orders for more help.

The orderly who had encouraged him to enter the room nudged past him on his way to the paranoid patient. He gave Lynch a hard look. "You need to leave . . . now, sir. Let _us_ settle him down."

The Colonel gulped once, then backed out of the room, aware of the hostility directed toward him by the staff attending to the pilot.

The nurse bringing in the sedative expressed the feelings of her colleagues as she passed him. "Mister Murdock isn't normally like this. What did you do?" Then the door closed behind her.

"Nothing! I did nothing," Lynch stammered to the closed door.

oooooo

Pig Latin- Omecay onway inway utbay eavelay ouryay igspay atway ethay oorday! (Come on in but leave your pigs at the door!)

Vietnamese- Rất vui khi gặp anh, đại tá (Very glad to meet you, Colonel).

German- Ich habe in den Bauch niedergestochen. Wie denken Sie, dass ich mich fühle? (I got stabbed in the stomach, How do you think I feel?)

French- Mais que voulez-vous dire, mon cher Colonel? (But what do you want to say, my dear Colonel?)

German- Überall blut (Blood everywhere)

Vietnamese- máu ở khắp nơi (blood everywhere) Làm bạn ngửi thấy không? (Do you smell that?)

French- Ils ont utilisé l'ammoniac . . . (They have used the ammonia)


	25. Chapter 25

Monster

Disclaimer: I do not own The A-Team movie or television series or any of the delightful characters found on The A-Team.

Chapter 25

When he glimpsed Lynch back through the door, Murdock got a feeling of satisfaction. He didn't let it show in his expression . . . no, he had to make Lynch believe he was too mentally unstable to be interviewed for quite a while. But the Colonel's _reaction_? Priceless!

 _Jus' like th' first time he met me. That was easy. If I ain' s'posed t' be havin' an episode . . ._

He let out an agonized prolonged howl just for Lynch's ears, wondering in amusement what the expression was on the Colonel's face as he heard it. Then, squeezing his eyes shut, he shrieked, "Ils ont utilisé l'ammoniac" as loud as he could.

 _That should scare 'im 'way for a week 'r more._

Suddenly two large muscular figures appeared on either side of him. As Mike and Tim, the orderlies on duty, positioned themselves, he realized perhaps he had pushed the act too far.

Compliance was always best when faced with two very strong men who could just as easily strap you down for a twenty-four hour observation than sedate you. And maybe do both if the attending nurse thought it was necessary.

He gazed up at the approaching nurse . . . was it Samantha or Sharon? . . . and wondered what she would choose to do. Even as Mike and Tim seized him, gently but firmly forcing him to lie down on his back on the bed, he realized he had to keep up the act in case anyone got suspicious and thought he was faking the episode.

 _That'd blow my cover in here. 'N' what'd th' Big Guy say? Don' get yourself put in a straight jacket 'n' padded room. Jus' in case they come t' bust me outta here. Bein' doped up's jus' as bad._

Then he reasoned that if Lynch was hanging around like he obviously was, the team would not risk it.

"That man . . . " he managed to gasp out as the two orderlies buckled the restraints on his wrists and then to the bed frame. "He's a monster . . . he was gonna dump 'mmonia on me." He said it in English, only too late remembering he had been avoiding the use of his native language around the staff. The two men raised eyebrows at each other but there was no other reaction to his verbal slip.

 _Shit! Too late now. Maybe they won' tell Lynch. Please, guys? Pretty please, don' tell 'im?_

Tim rolled his eyes, then said, "And where do you think he would have been able to get hold of ammonia? He didn't have any when he left the room. Did you see any, Mike?"

"No, I didn't either. Where do you think he hid it?" Mike and Tim were humoring him, trying to keep him from becoming more aggressive. If only restraints were all they used on him this time, he would consider himself lucky.

"I . . . I don' know . . " Murdock's eyes widened as the nurse got into position to administer the sedative. He guessed it might be phenobarbital but there were other drugs they could use, all with slightly different side effects. "I'll b'have! I pinky swear I'll b'have! Please! I gotta stay 'wake!"

 _Yup. Guess I was too convincin' for my own good._

Unwilling to be sedated, he felt himself hyperventilating a bit as he struggled against the restraints.

 _God, I hate this part!_

"You're okay now, Mister Murdock," the nurse soothed, filling, then tapping the syringe, to force out any air bubbles. "He won't be allowed to see you again until Doctor Richter gives us word. I'll speak to your doctor myself. I promise."

"I can't protect myself if ya put me t' sleep!" Now his struggle against the restraints was very real. But not for that reason.

He hated the drugs they used to sedate him. He could never be sure he wouldn't wake with bad nightmares chasing him to consciousness. The feeling of dizziness and loss of control over the movement in his eyes or muscles when waking were unpleasant side effects he wished he could avoid. In fact, he hated anything that messed with his reflexes, vision and ability to think clearly.

"We'll protect you, Mister Murdock," Tim assured him, having a hard time restraining the patient's ankles. Murdock didn't mean to kick the man in the chest but, then again, he never thought rationally when restraints and sedatives were used in combination on him.

The nurse gestured with her head for Mike to prevent the pilot from moving his arm. And then she efficiently slid the needle into his vein, plunging the sleep-inducing drug into his bloodstream.

As the drug took effect, he let out a soft groan. He hoped his dreams would be so deep, he wouldn't remember them. Then he was asleep.

oooooo

Approaching the hospital where Stein was receiving treatment, Lynch cursed under his breath. He wasn't sure the man who tried to kill Murdock and the reporter was still there.

Even if he was, would he be allowed to interview him?

He parked his car near the entrance and strode past the information desk toward the bank of elevators leading upstairs to the rooms for patients. His sources had told him where Stein was. All he had to do was convince any guards that he had the authority to speak to the man. His hand tightened around the briefcase he carried.

The two police guards at the door to the hospital room were young. Neither looked like they were especially impressed with the job to which they were assigned.

"Who is in charge of this detail?" Lynch demanded as he approached the taller of the two.

The officer casually surveyed the other man's Army uniform and shrugged. "Our sergeant told us to make sure the suspect doesn't have visitors or escape. Thing is, he can hardly open his mouth to talk. His jaw was broken in two places and he's wired shut."

For a second the Colonel wondered how on earth Stein could have broken his jaw so badly in a car accident. But there was no time for that.

"This man worked in a VA hospital. One of his known crimes was perpetrated there. He stabbed one of the patients. That makes him the object of an Army investigation into the abuse and assault of patents at that hospital. And _that_ gives me clearance to interrogate him." Lynch edged forward while he was ranting until his face was a few inches from the young guard's nose. "And _my_ superiors want this man questioned _now_."

The young officer glanced at his partner, indecision on both men's faces.

Lynch scowled at the moment's delay. "Well?" he growled.

Stepping aside, the guards allowed him access to the door. Only when he closed it behind him did Lynch release the breath he had been holding.

Stein squinted at him and pressed the button that raised the head of his bed. The swelling around the man's entire head showed Lynch how much damage had been done. The bruises alone, while losing the black and purple they must have been originally, still were a dark green and light yellow across most of Stein's lower face and around his eyes. It was obvious to the military man that the accident couldn't have possibly caused all that damage.

"Lynch," Stein muttered through wired teeth.

"Why?" It was the only question the Colonel really wanted to know.

Stein slurred his response, swallowing and grimacing as he did. He reached for a yellow legal pad and pen on the stand beside the bed. Printing slowly, he responded to the question.

 _Because you wanted me to get them out of hiding._

"You almost killed him _and_ that reporter. The Army will take no responsibility for your actions. They don't sanction attempted murder to capture fugitives." Lynch let his words hang in the air between them.

And then Stein smiled, at least as much as he was able to smile with his jaw wired shut. He wrote another message and held it up for Lynch to see.

 _What about during war? And you hired me to do it. That's what I'll tell them. And what will happen to your career then?_

Lynch narrowed his eyes briefly, then nodded slowly. "I see." He set his briefcase down on a chair and pressed the buttons which kept it shut. The top snapped open.

The military man sensed Stein's gaze focused on the contents of that case. The knowledge of that gave the Colonel a certain amount of satisfaction.

"What're ya gonna do? Give me somethin' ta kill me?" he muttered, slurring his words through his teeth. He made an attempt to sit up straighter and groaned softly with pain, the notepad and pen in his lap momentarily forgotten.

Lynch drew out a manila folder from the case and paged through the sheets in it. "This wasn't your first time, was it? . . . let's see . . . Houston, Texas . . . you were suspected of putting a patient in restraints without authorization . . . Gainesville, Florida . . . you were suspected of giving large doses of unauthorized sedatives to three patients, nearly killing one . . . Newington, Connecticut . . . they accused you of punching a patient in the face, breaking his nose . . . should I go on?"

Stein wrote something on his notepad, then displayed it for Lynch to see.

 _SO WHAT?_

"So it shows an escalating behavior pattern." The Army man slapped the file shut and put it back in his case. "I can make sure the United States Army _scours_ your employment record and builds a case against you for some of these other offenses. In the end, you might not get out of prison for quite a while."

Stein wrote something down.

 _Again, so what?_

"Your choice. But who will they believe? Someone with an established pattern of abuse and neglect toward patients or an officer with no blemishes on his record?"

The patient busied himself with writing something.

 _Help me avoid prison and I'll leave California and never say a word about our arrangement._

Lynch impassively gazed at him, letting the tense silence grow in the room. "What arrangement?" he sneered finally.

Reaching over, he snagged the legal pad from Stein's hands and tore off the yellow pages with the patient's written conversation. Wadding the sheets, he stuffed them in his pants pocket. He placed the notepad far away from Stein's grasp.

"Say nothing and maybe someone can do something to lighten your sentence. Who knows? Anything is possible. Think about it for a while."

Then he walked to the door, briefcase in hand. As he opened it, he heard Stein hiss his name and a curse.

Satisfied with the threat he delivered, Lynch left the hospital and began considering a new method of getting Captain Murdock's friends to come out of hiding.

oooooo

French- Ils ont utilisé l'ammoniac . . . (They have used the ammonia)


	26. Chapter 26

Monster

Disclaimer: I do not own The A-Team movie or television series or any of the delightful characters found on The A-Team.

AN: One more chapter and this story will be finished. A longer chapter this time but I couldn't see a good place to break it up. Thanks to all for reading and commenting.

Chapter 26

Amy hoped, as she approached the nurses' station, that she would be allowed to see Murdock this time. Yesterday the on-duty nurse turned her away, saying only that the pilot was under in-room observation for an episode which could have torn out his stitches if left to escalate. She could only assume that meant he had been sedated and was sleeping the drugs off.

"I'm Amy Allen. I'm here to see Captain Murdock . . . " Amy noted the suspicious scan the older nurse gave her as she said it and hurried to add, "I'm not here as a reporter. Not this time. I'm here as a friend. If you look, you'll see I'm on his visitor list."

"I haven't been given approval from Doctor Richter for your friend to be allowed to receive visitors yet. Let me call the doctor and ask."

Amy let out a small frustrated breath, not loud enough for the nurse to hear as she held the phone to her ear and pressed buttons.

"Yes, she's here now and wants to visit Mister Murdock." The nurse pursed her lips and scanned Amy one more time. "If you say so, Doctor. I'll make sure there's an orderly outside the door just in case."

The thought of an orderly possibly hearing what she might say to the pilot didn't alarm Amy. There had been little news from any of the team except for instructions to say there was no reason to worry about them.

 _Which Murdock will be glad to hear._

She sensed the orderly was for her own protection.

 _But why should I need to be protected from Murdock? He's harmless._

As she followed the nurse to the locked door and waited for her to peek in the observation window before opening it, Amy knew the pilot would rather have seen one of his team mates, probably Face, instead.

She sensed an orderly approach.

"Mister Murdock, someone's here to see you. It's Amy Allen?" the nurse called.

"Okay." It was Murdock's voice but he sounded more tired and depressed than she had ever heard him. Amy suddenly felt impatient with the woman who held the key to the room.

The nurse unlocked the door and, turning to the orderly, gave instructions. "Stay out here for as long as she's in there. Be ready to respond."

Then she spoke to Amy. "If he starts to become agitated, call Mike in. Mister Murdock has been unpredictable the last couple of days ever since that Army colonel visited." In a fleeting moment of sympathy, the older nurse squeezed Amy's hand. "Just keep the conversation light and cheery and you should be fine."

 _Light and cheery?_

Amy thought of the reason for her visit and started to doubt it was the type of thing Murdock wanted or needed to hear. But for the reassurance of the team's well-being, she would have made an excuse to come back again another day.

Letting Amy enter the room, the orderly lingered at the open door just long enough to be sure Murdock did not act aggressively toward her, then quietly closed it to let the two friends talk in private.

She didn't know at first what to think when she saw him. Murdock sat on the edge of his bed, hunched over his legs, his hands clasped together, his elbows on his knees. She thought it was strange that he was wearing his blue cap indoors. The brim obstructed her view of his eyes. And he was wearing his bomber jacket. Usually the room temperature was such that he wore a simple T-shirt alone or with an unbuttoned long-sleeved plaid shirt over it.

 _He wasn't expecting the guys, was he? They said nothing to me._

"Hi," she murmured, not sure whether she should draw up a chair and sit down or remain standing.

His hollow voice echoed her. "Hi."

"Do you mind if I sit down?" She decided to wait until he gave her permission.

He didn't answer, just waved a twitching hand at the folding chair. Just as quickly, as if to hide the tremor, he gripped his two hands together again in front of him and seemed to lean even more over his legs.

He was starting to scare her. Bringing the chair within two feet in front of him, she sat and looked at him carefully. She noticed a slight quiver in his arm and back muscles, evident even through the leather jacket.

"Our friends told me to tell you everything is fine with them." She waited for a reaction.

A small nod and a subdued "Good" was the only answer she received.

"What's wrong?" She swallowed back her nagging worry and touched him on his forearm.

He raised his head just enough to fix her with a weary gaze. "They ain' gonna come, are they." His eyes flickered around the room before settling on her face.

 _What can I tell him? They're laying low until they're certain Lynch has started looking elsewhere._

After quickly scanning her sympathetic expression, he sighed and looked down at the floor again. "I've been holdin' Lynch off from snoopin' 'round here. I got Doc Richter convinced Lynch's singlehandedly bringin' on ep'sodes ever'time he sets foot on th' ward." He paused. "Guess they don' need me for anythin' 'n' that's why they ain' comin' t' spring me."

She felt uncontrolled twitching in the arm she touched.

 _What's going on with him?_

As if reading her thoughts, he answered. "Been havin' some weird dreams that's wakin' me up. Don' matter how much stuff they pump int' me t' keep me settled. I keep havin' 'em 'n' they keep givin' me th' sleep juice. 'N' that stuff makes my eyes 'n' muscles go all haywire." He snorted softly. "I r'member some o' them . . . th' dreams, I mean . . . but some o' them . . . it's like someone takes a giant 'raser 'n' wipes big parts o' them clean from my mind. Stein's in th' ones I r'member . . . sneakin' 'round th' ward lookin' for ways t' get t' me. Th' more stuff they give me, th' more my body reacts. 'N' they're good at makin' sure I take th' stuff they give me right now." He tried to focus on her face again and gave up after a few seconds. "I'd be right as rain if they didn' keep me doped up. 'N' I hafta make sure they think Lynch's visits are doin' damage."

She made a note to somehow get in touch with Face or Hannibal and let them know what was going on.

 _This has to stop. It's hurting him._

"But t'day's a better day than yesterday. They didn' give me as much." He glanced at her before staring down at his clasped hands. "It was nice o' you t' visit."

Thinking of the notepad in her purse, Amy withdrew her hand from his arm to search for it. "I started writing something for the _Courier_ and I'd like your opinion on it. It's for Veteran's Day. Can I read it to you?"

"I guess," he mumbled.

 _I sure hope this is the right time to do this. But he seems to need cheering up._

"Now I haven't finished it and my editor doesn't know yet that I'm writing it." She drew in a breath and read from her notes.

"On November 7 we will be observing Veterans Day in these United States. There will be parades, picnics and ceremonies honoring those who have served . . . "

"Even th' ones who served over there? In Nam?" He sniffed and then let out a sad soft chuckle. "Not likely."

She decided to continue on despite the interruption. " . . . from World Wars I and II to Korea and on to the Vietnam War. Many served, among them larger-than-life heroes, deserving of the medals, Purple Hearts and citations for bravery they received. Some continue to be heroes today to those who love them. Captain H. M. Murdock is one of those. He served our country in Vietnam as one of the best pilots we had over there . . . "

Murdock cleared his throat. When he spoke, his voice still sounded choked. "Don' know 'bout th' hero part, darlin', but I was _the_ best chopper pilot over there." To himself, he muttered, "Lotsa good it does me if th' guys can't ever get me out t' fly anymore 'cause o' Lynch." He lifted his gaze to her. "You ain' gonna actually print that, are ya?"

"Let me finish and then you can tell me if you think I should, alright?"

He shrugged and went back to staring down at his clasped hands.

"For his selfless bravery, he received a Bronze Star, an Air Medal and three unit citations. He was wounded twice during his tours and spent several months in a POW camp where he suffered from torture methods you and I could not imagine anyone surviving." She noticed him unclasp his hands to self-consciously rub the side of his knee and knew he was remembering. His mouth twisted into a pained grimace as if he was feeling an ancient wound that had not totally healed.

"Men who I contacted who served with him say they still don't know how he managed to perform some of the extraordinary extractions of troops and the wounded and dying that characterized his service." She paused to gauge his reaction. The last thing she wanted to do was to spark a memory that would do more harm than good. Besides returning his hand to rest beside the other in front of him, Murdock did not react. She guessed he had stuffed the memories back into that place he kept locked deep inside him.

"When I began my research into possible abuse at the VA hospital in which Captain Murdock resides, I found he was again risking his own safety to keep others from being injured . . . allowing himself to be the recipient of the worst of the abuse so his fellow patients would be spared . . . "

Murdock interrupted again, this time with a flicker of a bitter smile. "Ya know, you won't be 'llowed t' print that . . . not 'til after they run their 'vestigation . . . 'n' maybe not even then."

"Maybe not," she agreed solemnly, placing one of her hands on both of his to capture his attention. "But I wanted to let you know how much of a hero you are in _my_ eyes. You and the guys are my heroes. I'll keep writing about the things _they_ do to help people in trouble and try to get public sentiment on their side. But I can't mention _you_ in those news stories and I wanted you to know how I felt."

He raised his head to gaze into her eyes. She saw an internal struggle in that look that she didn't understand. He opened his mouth to say something, then closed it again.

After a minute of silence spent searching her expression, he shook his head. "I 'ppreciate what you're tryin' t' say. I really do. But I don' know that I d'serve it." He sandwiched her hand between his and squeezed it gently. "Keep writin' 'bout th' guys 'n' what we're doin' for people. Maybe someday th' public'll call for th' military t' leave 'em 'lone 'n' they'll get their pardons."

Amy couldn't help but wonder what that would mean for Murdock once his friends were out of danger. Would he find a way to get released to live a normal life? _Could_ he live a normal life?

There was a knock, disrupting the moment. Murdock withdrew his hands from hers and sat up, looking toward the door. Without announcing herself, the nurse entered with a small cup of pills and a glass of water.

"Time for your midday medications, Mister Murdock." She analyzed his expression, looking for any agitation or signs of distress. Finding none, she seemed to release a silent sigh of relief.

"Doctor Richter will be here shortly to check on you."

At that statement, Murdock smiled. "Good. I wanna tell 'im 'bout some nightmares Billy's been havin'."

Amy rose to her feet, stuffing the notepad back in her purse. "And that's my cue to say goodbye."

Leaning down and giving him a small kiss on the cheek, she murmured, "I'll let your friends know you miss them."

Before Amy slipped through the door the nurse held open for her, Murdock spoke again, this time sounding more like the man she knew as a friend. "Thanks for comin' t' visit, darlin'. I sure needed th' comp'ny." He paused as they gazed at each other once more. "'N' thanks for the kind words. They helped."


	27. Chapter 27

Monster

Disclaimer: I do not own The A-Team movie or television series or any of the delightful characters found on The A-Team.

AN: This last chapter sets up the transition to my story 'Every Thought Captive.' I am going to try to put a chronological list of my stories on my profile page and add to it as stories are completed. Thanks for reading and commenting.

Chapter 27

Murdock lowered the Huey until the draft from its rotor blades bent the grasses on all sides. Peering off to the tree line of the jungle, he anxiously watched for the team he was called out to extract. He was alone in the chopper, a fact he mulled over in his mind as he waited.

Glancing at the lemon-colored skies above his bird, he noticed there were no accompanying gunships to protect his path back to base. And there was no gunfire or, for that matter, jungle wildlife noises, to be heard. Even the beating of the blades on his chopper made no sound.

All these facts put together made no sense.

 _They wouldn'ta sent me out 'lone . . . unless . . ._

He scoured his memory, trying to think back to his last hour at the Da Nang air base. Had he stolen a chopper? And what for?

 _Th' team mus' be in trouble. But where are they?_

He was about to make a vertical ascent from the field to make a careful scan of the area when a voice grated in his ears. Or, at least, he thought at first it was in his ears.

"Captain Murdock."

He heard the voice as if it were beside him, around him, in his head. It was a familiar voice, one he hadn't heard for quite some time. One he would hate forever for all the memories it brought with it, most of them memories he had tried so hard to stuff away.

"Jackson!" he muttered. "Where are you? Whaddya want from me?"

"The Company needs your services. Your country needs your services."

Murdock's bitter, cold smile matched the feeling he had toward the man speaking. "I'm nuts. R'member? Certifiable. Off mah rocker. Lost mah marbles. Ain' got both oars in th' water . . . "

He peered around the chopper interior, almost to the point of being spooked. No one was there.

Jackson chuckled, an eerie sound in the small cockpit. "How do you think you found your reporter friend when she most needed you? You're not so crazy we can't use you again. You haven't forgotten. You can be reminded."

"No," Murdock breathed to the air around him. "I ain' your guinea pig anymore."

"You were trained for this job. At the right time, I will find you." The voice interrupted him.

"No!" Murdock felt panic rise in his chest. His heart pounded wildly as he twisted in his seat to look behind him. No one was there. He was all alone in the Huey.

"You _will_ work for us again. You won't have a choice."

"No!" He clutched the helmet off his head and threw it in the copilot's seat but Jackson laughed. The sound filled the cockpit.

"Where _are_ you!" Murdock yelled.

"At the right time, I will send for you," Jackson crooned.

The pilot gripped the collective tightly and raised it, intending to escape the voice by flying the helicopter up and out of the area. Before he got the chopper more than a few feet, both the collective and cyclic melted in his hands. The chopper pitched forward so that he was staring at the grasses below.

 _I'm gonna crash . . ._

He tried to squeeze his eyes shut but his eyelids were frozen open.

"No!" he screamed as the chopper started its erratic dive.

oooooo

He woke suddenly, Jackson's laughter still echoing around him. His frantic gaze scanned the entirety of his room and found no one. Peeling back the sweat-soaked sheet and blanket, he swung himself out of bed and toward the door of his room.

 _If Jackson really was here, he couldn't o' gone far._

He pressed his face up against the observation window to stare up and down the hallway. Except for the orderly leaning up against the nurses' station desk and chatting with the nurse seated behind it, he could see no one.

 _If I pound on th' door 'n' get 'em t' come, they'll give me more drugs t' make me sleep._

Backing away from the door, he got the feeling of someone watching him. A few seconds later just as he turned in place to glance around the room once more, his nightlight and all the lights in the hallway went out.

He stumbled to the window to look out on the darkened hospital grounds. Below him, clinging to the rain gutter, a figure waved frantically.

 _Faceman._

Ignoring his damp t-shirt, Murdock hurriedly slipped on a flannel shirt, his jacket and his pants before pulling on socks and his tennies. He had to get himself ready. The guys were waiting and there wasn't much time before the lights would come back on.

Face already had the window open as he grabbed his baseball cap and headed for his escape route. He had to get away from the hospital, from that mocking voice.

As he left the room and began his controlled slide down the rain gutter, the voice spoke again, this time a mere whisper.

"When it's time."

Losing his grip on the metal gutter, Murdock fell the last four feet to the ground, landing on his back, knocking all the breath out of him. Looking up toward his window, he thought he saw Jackson staring down at him. Then the figure dissolved away.

"We don't have a lot of time," Face muttered, reaching out a hand to help him scramble to his feet.

Too dazed by the vision and his fall, Murdock nodded numbly and hurried after his best friend toward the waiting van.

Once inside, the pilot leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes.

 _It was jus' 'nother nightmare . . . jus' 'nother bad dream . . ._

Hannibal's voice cut through his silent mantra and forced him to focus on the present.

"I hope Lynch has a good time trying to find us in San Francisco." The Colonel grinned around his cigar and glanced back at him. "We dropped an anonymous tip that Face was seen at the Ritch Street Baths."

Face gave Hannibal a pained grimace. "I don't know why you thought it was a good idea to tell him _I_ was the one who was visiting a gay bath house. Why not _you_ . . . or _B. A._?"

The driver growled a threat and scowled at the con man in the rear view mirror.

The Colonel grinned wider. "Now who would believe either of _us_ would go for a thing like that? You have the charm and looks, Lieutenant. Just think of Lynch in a towel trying to find out information about where you might be." He laughed.

Face mused for a moment before smiling. "Now _that's_ an image I didn't need to think about. I hope they don't treat him _too_ roughly."

Murdock attempted to focus on the friendly banter but the thought of what Jackson said to him had conjured up bad memories of his time with the CIA.

Seeing his frown, Hannibal misread its cause. "Stein is going to prison for what he's done. He shouldn't be out again for a few years. And Miss Allen told us you needed a breather."

Face took up the narrative. "So we're headed to Crystal Lake for some R and R. We'll rent out some fishing gear and get some food on the way. No one will find us there. We'll bring you back to the hospital when you say so and not before. How does that sound?"

The pilot forced himself to smile. Maybe the voice would leave him alone at Crystal Lake. Maybe Jackson wouldn't find him there.

"Sounds great, Colonel."

His mind went back to Jackson's words: _I will find you_.


End file.
